The Special Court trying suspended South Sudanese First Vice President Riek Machar and seven co-defendants on Wednesday rejected a defence request to allow Machar’s legal team to make its own audio and video recordings of the remaining proceedings.
The three-judge panel said granting Machar’s request would give him preferential treatment over the other accused, who had not been granted the same facility.
The ruling was delivered during the court’s 109th session at Freedom Hall in Juba, after the panel had postponed its decision to allow more time to consider the application.
On Aug. 7, Machar’s lawyer, Kur Lual Kur, submitted a written application seeking permission to record the proceedings, arguing that digital recordings would provide an accurate and continuous record of the trial and preserve it for future reference.
Kur also argued that the recordings would benefit the South Sudanese public, future courts and academic institutions, particularly given the country’s political and security uncertainties.
But on Aug. 10, Counsel General Deng Achuil Adija opposed the application, arguing that the defence had failed to cite any legal provision supporting its request.
Delivering the ruling, Judge Stephen Simon said the court could not authorize a special audio and video recording arrangement for Machar without extending the same opportunity to the other accused.
He said the defence should have made the request at the beginning of the examination of the accused, adding that granting it at this stage could violate constitutional provisions guaranteeing equal rights.
The court also advised Machar to consider changing his legal team if he had lost confidence in his lawyers.
Simon further rejected a request by Machar to submit written statements instead of giving lengthy oral testimony. He said written statements could only be admitted after an accused had been formally charged and entered a plea of not guilty.
The court adjourned the proceedings until Friday, Aug. 21, when Machar is expected to continue giving his defence testimony.
Machar, the fifth accused in the case, is being tried alongside seven others over violence in Nasir, Upper Nile State, in March 2025, when government forces suffered heavy casualties.
The defendants face charges including treason, murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and crimes against humanity.
Prosecutors allege that forces aligned with Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), together with the White Army, killed 257 South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) soldiers, including military commander General David Majur Dak, during an attack on a military garrison in Nasir.
They also allege that military equipment worth about $58 million was destroyed or seized during the fighting.
Machar and the other defendants have denied the charges.
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