Details of alleged security threats against South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar, his seven co-accused and members of their defence team have emerged as the court hearing their case adjourned proceedings on Friday to allow further investigation into the concerns.
Multiple sources familiar with the matter told Radio Tamazuj that the alleged threats include a plan to cause a road accident involving members of the defence team and another allegation that a poisonous substance could be sprayed on seats used by the accused and their lawyers in the courtroom.
The allegations could not be independently verified.
The security concerns were formally raised in court on Friday when Machar’s defence lawyers submitted a written application to the Special Court during its 115th session.
Presiding Judge James Alala Deng instructed the defence not to read the application in open court but accepted the written submission.
The court then adjourned proceedings until Sept. 23, saying further investigations would be conducted into the security concerns.
A senior source familiar with the matter said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) escorted the defence lawyers to court in a security convoy on Friday and returned them to their respective locations after the hearing.
“There was a plot to cause a car accident to the defence team, but that plot has now been blocked because the lawyers will now be taken to the court and escorted by a convoy by the authorities,” the source said.
The source also alleged that a poisonous substance could be sprayed on seats used by the accused and defence lawyers inside the courtroom.
The defence lawyers did not sit in their usual places during Friday’s proceedings, the source said, citing the security concerns.
Another source said Machar and the other accused had been informed about the security concerns during last week’s hearing.
The source rejected reports circulating on social media that a bomb attack was being planned against the accused and their defence team, saying the concerns instead involve an alleged plan to use a poisonous or chemical substance.
The allegation is subject to further investigation, the source said.
“There is a plot to harm the defence team by an accident or a poisonous substance against the defence and the accused,” the source said.
The CID recently met members of the defence team and offered to provide security escorts and protection, according to the sources.
The court’s adjournment will allow authorities to investigate the allegations contained in the defence application before proceedings resume on Sept. 23.
Machar and the seven other defendants are being tried over violence in Nasir, Upper Nile State, in March 2025, when government forces suffered heavy casualties.
They 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 militia, 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.
The prosecution has also alleged that military equipment worth about $58 million was destroyed or seized during the fighting.
Machar and the other defendants have denied the charges.
and then