Dr. Riek Machar, Suspended Frist Vice President of South Sudan and Opposition leader of SPLM-IO, looking on during an interview at his residence in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (AFP/Getty)
The fifth prosecution witness in the Nasir incident told the court in Juba on Monday that suspended First Vice President Riek Machar offered him a colonel’s rank to join SPLA-IO and return to Nasir, but after he refused, his captors demanded $20,000 for his release.
The court, which is trying Machar and seven others over the
Nasir incident, continued its 34th session with testimony from Sgt. Maj. Ater
Bol Piol, who is also a survivor.
Piol said he was captured in the bushes of Ulang County,
Upper Nile State, on March 12, after fleeing the fighting in Nasir, by SPLA-IO
officers and taken to SPLA-IO Maj. Gen. Thiec.
He said he was interrogated about his state, county, and
payam, and told the general he was from Warrap State, Gogrial West, Akon Payam.
“Did your uncle Kiir hear that Wech-Yar-Adiu is captured?”
Gen. Thiec asked, according to Piol.
He said he replied, “I don’t have his number, I only see
Kiir on TV,” and added he communicated only with the chief of defence forces
because he had no political party affiliations.
Piol said Gen. Thiec assured him they had no intention of
killing him, explaining that the conflict was political between Machar and
President Salva Kiir, and that Machar had personally instructed him not to kill
Piol.
Piol, who served as an armored commander in the SSPDF Nasir
garrison, said Gen. Thiec connected him to Machar by phone on March 15.
“Machar told me, go back to Nasir and remove the tanks in
Wech-Yar-Adiu and I will promote you to colonel and put you in charge of
military artillery,” Piol said. “I refused.”
After rejecting the offer, Piol said the SPLA-IO commanders
holding him hostage allegedly demanded $20,000 for his release. He informed his
family and called his wife and brother in Juba to communicate with the general.
His wife, who is Nuer, realized during the conversation that the general was
well-known and had a brother in Juba.
Following negotiations, the commander accepted 11.5 million
South Sudanese pounds after Piol’s brother threatened that the general’s
relative in Juba would be killed if Piol was killed.
Piol was later airlifted from Ulang on a commercial airplane
hired by the SSPDF, along with eight other survivors who also allegedly paid
ransom, and brought to Juba on March 19, where he was investigated by the SSPDF
investigative committee.
The court adjourned the session to January 5, 2026, when the
prosecution’s sixth witness is expected to appear.
Machar and his co-accused face charges over the March 2025 Nasir incident, including murder,
conspiracy, terrorism, financing terrorism, treason, destruction of public
property and military assets, and crimes against humanity.
The government alleges SPLA-IO forces, allied with the White
Army, caused the deaths of a general, 257 soldiers, and the loss of weapons
valued at $58 million.
