By Yiep Joseph
The South African digital expert who investigated the phones and electronic devices collected from the 8 accused, testified that he was unable to access Dr. Riek Machar’s devices.
Several prosecution witnesses have continued to testify before the special court trying Puot Kang and seven co-accused, including Dr. Riek Machar, the suspended First Vice President.
As the last prosecution witness, Ratlhogo Peter Calvin, a digital forensic expert who investigated the electronic equipment collected from the accused, displayed some of his findings.
After displaying several communications extracted from various electronic devices like phones, he expressed that some of the communications were linked to the Nasir conflict.
However, during the 49th session, the expert declared that he was unable to access any information from the phone and the computer that were collected from suspended Vice President.
According to Peter, Dr. Machar’s devices (phone and computer) had passwords and were hard to unlock.
“The phone and the tablet of Dr. Riek Machar were therefore not accessed, and furthermore, there is no record of us on the handset of Machar,” Peter told the court.
“I was not provided with the passwords for the phone and the MacBook computer, which makes it very difficult to interrogate them or extract any information that pertains to the case.” He added
Due to limitations, the expert said he did not investigate the devices for Dr. Machar but rather kept them sealed.
The expert revealed that there was no investigative tool to unlock Dr. Machar’s devices for investigations.
He told the court that after consulting with some of the colleagues’ digital experts in regard to the locked computer, he was referred to the manufacturer, where he can acquire the password.
“They advised me that there is no investigative tool that can break the passwords except only if I can send via post the MacBook to the main office, which is overseas, as they’re the only Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) who can assist,” he said.
Peter expressed that since it was not part of his task, he was unable to take any other step regarding investigating the electronic devices of the suspended vice president who is accused no. 5.
The special court presiding judge, Dr. James Alala, adjourned the session to Wednesday, Feb. 11, when the forensic expert is expected to complete his analysis on the already presented information linking the accused to the Nasir incident.
Machar and his SPLA-IO co-accused face charges including murder, conspiracy, terrorism, treason, destruction of public property, and crimes against humanity.
Prosecutors allege that SPLA-IO forces, allied with the White Army, killed 257 soldiers, including commander David Majur Dak, and destroyed or seized military equipment valued at about $58 million.