The National Salvation Front (NAS), a South Sudanese rebel group, on Saturday condemned the government’s detention and planned trial of suspended First Vice President Riek Machar and seven other opposition figures, calling the move politically motivated and a threat to peace.
The statement, issued by NAS spokesperson Suba Samuel Manase, came in response to government plans to arraign Machar and his associates in court on Monday, Sept. 22.
Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech recently said Machar, along with seven others – including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chuol and Deputy Army Chief Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam – faces charges of treason, murder, and crimes against humanity over an alleged role in a deadly militia attack on a military base in Nasir County in March.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by Machar, denies the accusations, calling them baseless and politically motivated. “This is a political witch hunt,” the group said.
Machar, a key signatory to the 2018 peace agreement signed with President Salva Kiir, has been in detention alongside several allies since March.
In its statement, NAS accused Kiir’s administration of using the judiciary to suppress dissent and undermine the peace process. The group cited previous incidents – including a disputed 2013 coup plot – as evidence of what it called a pattern of political repression.
“The indictment and planned trial of SPLM-IO leaders is an act of selective and tribal justice,” the statement read, citing other violent incidents – such as recent attacks in Warrap State – that it claimed were not investigated.
NAS, which has recently formed an alliance with SPLM-IO to push for Kiir’s ouster, called on the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, the European Union, and regional bloc IGAD to demand the unconditional release of Machar and other detainees and to halt what it described as a “sham trial.”
The group also reiterated its rejection of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), calling it “flawed” and incapable of delivering lasting peace.
There was no immediate response from the South Sudanese government.