The suspended First Vice President rejected the legitimacy of the committee investigating the Nasir incident, insisting that he has immunity and that only Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) is mandated to probe peace agreement violations.
On the sixth session on Friday, the investigator continued reading the accused persons’ statements before the special court, including that of Dr. Riek Machar, listed as accused number five.
When given the opportunity by the judge to confirm whether
the statement read by the investigator was his, Machar told the court that he
rejected the committee for two reasons.
“I did not recognize the committee because I had two
reasons. One reason, incidents of violation of the peace agreement are always
investigated by CTSAMVM. It is an international structure. South Sudanese are
also there with their parties. They investigate such incidents like that of Nasir,”
Machar said.
He cited one of the examples, the Leer massacre of 2018, where CTSAMVM
conducted the investigation and submitted its report to the Reconstituted Joint
Evaluation and Monitoring Commission (R-JEMC), which then forwarded it to IGAD.
“Although the report is now two years, the president has not
received it. He has not given time to take it. There are other incidents,” he
noted.
According to Machar, the Nasir case is being treated
differently because the complainant is now the National Security Service,
something he said he had not witnessed in previous investigations.
The special court had ruled that the constitution grants
immunity only to the president and not to anyone else, including First Vice
President Dr. Machar. However, Machar insisted that he has immunity, which he
cited as his second reason for rejecting the investigation committee.
“I said I am the first vice president. I have immunity, and
then I told them, I will give you a statement, but I don't accept to be
investigated by you,” Machar emphasized.
Machar maintained that his written statement to the
investigators was long and detailed, but he dismissed the process as flawed.
According to the investigator, Machar’s statement was
recorded on April 14, 2025, after he was placed under house arrest on March 26,
2025, on the orders of President Salva Kiir.
Machar and seven others face charges including murder,
conspiracy, terrorism, financing of terrorist acts, treason, destruction of
public property and military assets, and crimes against humanity, stemming from
the March 2025 Nasir clashes between the White Army and the SSPDF, which killed
a general and over 250 soldiers.
