Puot Kang Chol delivered his first defense statement before a special court in Juba on Monday during its 73rd session, rejecting charges linked to the Nasir incident and questioning the strength of evidence presented by prosecutors.
Statement as delivered
With all due respect, I have finally gotten time to be heard
after seven months of listening to the prosecution and its witnesses. Your
Lordship, I have been designated in this case as the first accused by the
prosecution.
As such, I would like to stand as the witness in my own case
and in the case of other colleagues, as per section 128, subsection two of the
Code of Evidence Act. I begin by expressing my profound respect for this court
and by acknowledging with sincerity the considerable burden it has borne in
presiding over these proceedings.
This case, now at session 73, is one of the longest trials
in the short judicial history of our country. The endurance, discipline, and
institutional professionalism demonstrated by this court throughout this
extensive sitting reflect a commitment to due process and rule of law that
deserves to be formally recognized. I am mindful of the wait of time and the
complexity of the issues that your Lordship has had to navigate.
I respectfully place on record my appreciation for the
court’s perseverance in ensuring that all parties are afforded a full and fair opportunity
to be heard. However, your Lordship, it is equally necessary to observe that
the protracted nature of these proceedings have largely been driven by the course
adopted by the prosecution.
Over this extended period, the prosecution has taken
considerable time to present its case, yet it has ultimately failed to produce
cogent, credible, and legally sufficient evidence capable of sustaining the
charges against me and my colleagues before this honorable court. Despite the
length of this proceeding, the evidentiary record remains fundamentally
deficient, and the allegations advanced have not matured into proof meeting the
required legal standard.
Your Lordship, it is against this background that I now
proceed.
I intend to discuss this case from the point of view of the
R-ARCSS, which is the peace deal that brought me to Juba after its signing.
This shall be followed by a statement on my role with regard to the
implementation of the R-ARCSS, and a statement on the Nasir incident shall
follow in the third place. Then, a response to the allegations leveled against
me shall follow, and finally, I shall conclude with a prayer.
I intend to discuss in the viewpoint of the R-ARCSS because
the presentations which were made here look as if we were captured in war. None
of us were captured in war.
Your Lordship, after the signing of the R-ARCSS on September
12, 2018, I became a member of the National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC),
which was formed in October 2018 to implement the activities of the
pre-transitional period.
On November 6, 2018, I led a team of SPLM/A-IO components of
the NPTC. Which served as an advance team to Juba from Khartoum. It is
important to highlight that we were the first SPLM/A-IO team, and I was the
leader of that team.
In October 2018, I was assigned by the First Vice President
as a focal person to coordinate meetings between him and the President.
In February 2020, I was appointed as a member of the
High-Level Standing Committee for the implementation of the agreement.
In 2023, I became the chairperson of the SPLM/A-IO team
leader, and as a result, I was appointed to be a deputy chairperson of the
High-Level Standing Committee for the implementation of the agreement.
In November 2024, I was appointed by the President as a
deputy chairperson of the R-TGoNU negotiating team to the Tumaini Initiative in
Nairobi, Kenya.
It is important to highlight that, as I stand before you, I
still hold these positions because I believe the agreement has been arrested,
and it can only be implemented when it is released from prison or detention.
Your Lordship, looking at the above-mentioned summarized responsibilities
on my part. It goes without saying that I have been at the center of the
implementation of the R-ARCSS. As such, it has always been my obligation to
stand on the side of the peace agreement. This point I feel I should make known
before proceeding further.
Your Lordship, before giving my statement on the Nasir
incident of March 3–4, 2025, allow me to inform this court on record that there
have been many serious incidents of violations of the agreement including, but
not limited to, Kajo-Keji Moroto Training Center incident in 2020, Maiwut
County incident in 2020, Nasir incident in August 2020, Tombura County incident
of 2021, among many others.
Your Lordship, this is to say that violations of the
agreement did not begin with the Nasir incident of March 3–4, 2025. Instead,
violations began right from the formation of the R-TGoNU and were always
resolved through the mechanisms of the R-ARCSS or by the two principals, which
is the President and the First Vice President, as per article 1.9.1 of the
R-ARCSS.
This states that the agreement is founded on the premise
that there shall be collegial collaboration in decision-making and continuous
consultation within the Presidency between the President, the First Vice
President, and the four Vice Presidents to ensure effective governance during
the transitional period.
Your Lordship, with these few incidences in mind, it is now
crystal clear that the Nasir incident is not an isolated one. Instead, it is
one among many which clearly constitute violations of the permanent ceasefire,
as per articles 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.4, and 2.1.7 of the R-ARCSS.
The responsibility of investigating such violations lies
with CTSAMVM, which reports directly to RJMEC and the IGAD Council of
Ministers, as per articles 2.4.5 and 2.4.7 of the R-ARCSS.
Although the Nasir incident is being used as a reason to
abrogate the R-ARCSS and to politically witch-hunt political rivals, it must
nevertheless be mentioned that cases of this nature are agreed to be handled by
the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, as per articles 5.1.5, 5.3.2.1.4, 5.3.2.2,
and 5.3.3 of the R-ARCSS.
The delay in forming or constituting the Hybrid Court for
South Sudan is squarely the responsibility of our peace partner, who is our
accuser in this case.
Your Lordship, at this point, I shall get into the Nasir
incident…………
Adjournment
The presiding judge adjourned the session to Wednesday May
6, 2026, for Chol to continue presenting his statement.
Puot Kang Chol and his seven co-accused including first vice
president Dr. Riek Machar face charges including murder, conspiracy, terrorism,
treason, destruction of public property and crimes against humanity.
Machar remains under house arrest, while the co-accused are
detained in National Security Service facilities in Juba.
Prosecutors allege that forces linked to the SPLM-IO and the
White Army killed 257 South Sudan People’s Defence Forces soldiers, including a
commander, and destroyed or seized military equipment worth about $58 million
during an attack on a military garrison in Nasir in March 2025.
