Machar aide halts trial updates, citing ‘circumstances beyond our control’

NAIROBI — A senior aide to South Sudan’s suspended First Vice President Riek Machar said on Monday he would stop providing public updates on Machar’s ongoing trial, citing “circumstances beyond our control” as political tensions surrounding the case mount.

Puok Both Baluang, Machar’s acting press secretary, said the blackout applies to the 40^th session of the government-established tribunal trying Machar and seven other members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO).

Baluang said updates would resume “at the appropriate time” but gave no further details.

“This notice is to inform all SPLM/A (IO) members and the concerned public that we will not be publishing updates on today’s (40^th) session of the SPLM (IG)-established sham court,” Baluang said in a statement, referring to a process the opposition brands as politically motivated.

He said the court was targeting Machar in his capacity as SPLM/A (IO) commander-in-chief.

The information vacuum leaves the public entirely dependent on state-sanctioned accounts of a trial that threatens to return the country back to war.

Last week, Judge Stephen Simon, a member of the court, ordered hearings held in camera following a request from prosecutors, who claimed witnesses faced intimidation from the accused’s associates.

While the court insisted the ban was a temporary safety measure, critics argue it has stripped the politically charged case of all independent scrutiny.

Baluang, now in exile in Nairobi, has relied on a network of informants and lawyers to track the proceedings. His flight from Juba underscores the climate of fear that has been gripping opposition figures following a wave of arrests in early 2025.

Authorities arrested Machar on March 26, weeks after detaining key figures in his movement. These included the deputy chief of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), Gabriel Duop Lam who is also the SPLA-IO chief of staff, and Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chuol.

The crackdown followed a sharp deterioration of security in Upper Nile State, where fighting erupted in Nasir County shortly before Machar’s detention. During the clashes, the White Army — an armed ethnic militia the government links to the SPLA-IO — overran a military post, killing about 250 government soldiers.

Casualties included a major general commanding the brigade in Nasir.

The violence in Nasir marked one of the most significant escalation straining the fragile peace deal that had restored Machar as first vice president under the 2018 revitalized agreement.

Machar has stood trial since September before a panel of judges appointed by President Salva Kiir. The SPLM-IO rejects the proceedings as a “sham trial” by a “kangaroo court” lacking independence.

Just before the trial began, Machar was suspended as first vice president, deepening uncertainty within the transitional government.

The SPLM-IO views the trial, arrests, and Upper Nile violence as a campaign to weaken the opposition before elections. Government officials deny this, saying the court follows the law and security operations aim to restore order.