Prosecutors on Monday presented a series of evidence and exhibits to the special court against suspended First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar and his seven co-accused.
During the session in Juba, Advocate Dr. Sabri Wani Ladu, a member of the prosecution team, presented prosecution document number 5: an autopsy report and death certificate for the late Maj. Gen. James Majur Dak, who was among 256 soldiers killed in Nasir in March 2025.
The autopsy report, dated March 10, 2025, and signed by Dr. Akram Jibril, confirmed the findings into the cause of death.
“We received prosecution document number 7, the death certificate of SSPDF officers in Nasir. The number of those who were killed was 256, and the death certificate was there,” Wani said.
“Your Honour, the prosecution now also moves to tender the death certificates of the 256, because we took one of the late soldiers who were killed because of the crime committed by these persons as prosecution document number 7.”
Wani said the death certificates were signed, stamped and issued by the competent authority, the Ministry of Health, as required under the law of evidence. He said prosecutors gathered substantial evidence from eyewitnesses, survivors, victims and expert reports confirming the soldiers’ deaths.
Wani also presented a military administrative report on the Nasir incident containing 14 attachments. The report includes the formation of an investigation committee by the SSPDF, the authorization of Maj. Peter Malual Deng to represent the SSPDF, and a document showing Col. Tor Gile Thoan as an active member of SPLA-IO before being commander of the White Army militia.
The report also contains a list of Nasir survivors; orders for the relief of forces from Nasir; a list of SSPDF martyrs; a presidential decree integrating the Agwelek militia into the SSPDF; and a list detailing weapons destroyed by the White Army.
Other items include a document regarding the deployment of SSPDF forces in Nasir in 2018, a USB drive containing videos and audio of the incident, a March 1, 2025, letter from Machar, and a press statement from SPLM-IO spokesman Pal Mai Deng on the same date regarding the replacement of SSPDF forces in Nasir.
Wani said representatives of the SSPDF are expected to testify before the court on all measures taken by the military based on intelligence and witnesses.
Digital Evidence and Defense Objections
Wani also presented a digital forensic report prepared in South Africa containing 15 attachments from A to O. The bundle, submitted under seal, includes custody logs, diplomatic correspondence, and analysis of seized laptops and mobile phones belonging to the accused.
According to prosecutors, the chain of custody was properly maintained, with evidence transferred to South Africa through diplomatic bags and returned to Juba after analysis. The resulting forensic report, dated Aug. 26, 2025, is expected to be central in linking the accused to communications and planning around the Nasir incident.
“This is an expert report issued in South Africa, sealed and authenticated by the relevant authority as prosecution document number 9 with 15 attachments from A to O,” Wani said.
“These are all official documents issued by competent authorities in South Sudan and South Africa to standard chain of custody and authentication of digital forensic analysis.”
Prosecutors told the court the evidence complied with South Sudan’s Evidence Act and requested its admission. They also indicated that the South African forensic expert responsible for the analysis would testify in court to authenticate the findings.
However, Presiding Judge James Alala Deng declined to immediately endorse prosecution document number 9, which consists of the digital forensic report and certified videos and audios.
“The court is going to mark all the documents that are presented by prosecution, but it will adjourn marking of the two documents requested by the defense – that is, the documents which are videos and audios – until they are played or displayed so that the court would be able to see them,” Deng said.
Regarding the digital forensic report, Judge Deng said, “As you have seen, the document is a technical document. Unless it is produced by the author or writer and also discussed by the defense, we will not mark this document until we hear from the author and it is produced in his or her presence. That is the time we will mark this document.”
Machar’s defense lawyer, Anis Tombe Augustino, challenged the prosecution’s evidence, citing the legality of cooperation between South Sudan and South Africa.
“Please allow us to respond to the evidence presented. We object to this evidence for the following reasons,” Tombe said. “All the statements issued by the South Sudanese government, except those issued by the Minister of Interior or the Foreign Minister, did not pass through the official and diplomatic channels of the South Sudanese government in dealing with all other governments.”
The defense lawyer said the South African embassy in Juba had not formally acknowledged the correspondence, undermining its credibility.
The presiding judge adjourned the session to Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. The next proceedings are expected to continue with testimony from forensic experts.
The eight accused face charges including treason, crimes against humanity, mass murder, terrorism and destruction of property.
The case relates to March 2025 attacks on an army base in Nasir County that killed General David Majur Dak and dozens of soldiers. The government has alleged the assaults were carried out by Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-in-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) and an allied militia known as the White Army.