Major Charges Filed Against South Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar

Mon Sep 15 2025 12:58:29 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

South Sudan's First Vice-President Riek Machar is facing serious charges, including murder and treason, following alleged militia attacks, stirring fears of renewed civil conflict.

Riek Machar, the First Vice-President of South Sudan, has been charged with murder, treason, and crimes against humanity after accusations tied to a militia attack earlier this year. His ongoing house arrest raises concerns of escalating tensions in a nation still recovering from its civil war.

South Sudan's First Vice-President Riek Machar has been charged with murder, treason, and crimes against humanity in a move that some fear could reignite the country's civil war.

Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech stated that the charges against Machar relate to an attack in March by a militia allegedly linked to the vice-president.

The routes leading to his home in the capital, Juba, have been barricaded by tanks and troops, reflecting the heightened state of security amid the escalating political crisis.

Machar's forces previously clashed with those loyal to President Salva Kiir during a protracted civil war that lasted five years, concluding with a peace deal in 2018.

Since March, he has been under house arrest, with calls for calm from the UN, African Union, and neighboring countries.

The fragile peace established in 2018 sought to alleviate the ethnic violence that claimed nearly 400,000 lives, yet Machar's rapport with Kiir appears increasingly strained, exacerbating ethnic tensions and sporadic violence.