{"id":47010,"date":"2026-08-17T15:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=47010"},"modified":"2026-08-17T15:08:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:08:59","slug":"judges-to-rule-on-machars-digital-recording-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/17\/judges-to-rule-on-machars-digital-recording-request\/","title":{"rendered":"Judges to rule on Machar\u2019s digital recording request"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Judges in the trial of suspended First Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar and co-accused will today rule on recording his statement, both audio and video.<\/p>\n

Machar, the fifth accused in the case, wants his remaining statement captured in a separate digital record.<\/p>\n

He said that the recording would preserve his account for the people of South Sudan, future courts, and academic institutions.<\/p>\n

His defense has argued that the request would create a permanent record of his testimony and protect his account against possible changes in the country\u2019s political and security environment.<\/p>\n

The request has sparked a procedural dispute between the defense and prosecution over how Machar\u2019s testimony should be recorded and preserved.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday\u2019s 107th session, lead defense counsel Geri Raimondo Legge submitted the defense’s written response to a prosecution submission concerning the recording request.<\/p>\n

Lubati also raised concerns about cameras operating inside the courtroom.<\/p>\n

He told the judges that two cameras positioned upstairs belonged to the defense, while he believed another camera downstairs belonged to the prosecution.<\/p>\n

Geri raised the issue in the context of what he described as the need for equal protection between the two sides.<\/p>\n

Lead prosecutor Ajo Ony\u2019Ohisa acknowledged receiving the defense’s response but said it raised new issues that had not previously been before the court.<\/p>\n

The prosecution reserved its position on those matters and left them for the judges to determine.<\/p>\n

The court then adjourned the proceedings to today, August 17.<\/p>\n

Machar is facing trial alongside other senior political and military figures over allegations linked to violence and events that followed the renewed conflict in South Sudan.<\/p>\n

The case is being closely watched because of Machar\u2019s central role in the country\u2019s political and armed conflict history.<\/p>\n

He has served as a senior political figure and has repeatedly been at the centre of negotiations and peace agreements aimed at ending South Sudan\u2019s cycles of violence.<\/p>\n

Machar\u2019s defense has maintained that his testimony is important to understanding the events at the centre of the case.<\/p>\n

The request for additional audio and video recordings has now added another dimension to the proceedings, with the defense seeking to ensure that his account is preserved in a format that can be accessed in the future.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s 108th session could determine whether Machar will be allowed to make his own audio and video record of his remaining testimony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph Judges in the trial of suspended First Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar and co-accused will today rule on recording his statement, both audio and video. Machar, the fifth accused in the case, wants his remaining statement captured in a separate digital record. He said that the recording would[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":47011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Suspended-First-Vice-President-Dr.-Riek-Machar-Teny-and-co-accused-during-one-of-the-court-sessions.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47010"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47016,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47010\/revisions\/47016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}