{"id":48511,"date":"2026-10-03T13:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T11:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=48511"},"modified":"2026-10-06T13:57:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T11:57:24","slug":"special-court-court-clears-way-for-machars-examination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/03\/special-court-court-clears-way-for-machars-examination\/","title":{"rendered":"SPECIAL COURT: Court clears way for Machar\u2019s examination"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The Nasir incident trial resolved two applications on Friday, clearing the way for Dr. Riek Machar\u2019s examination to continue.<\/p>\n

All parties attended the 119th session except Accused No. 4 and Accused No. 6, who were absent for health reasons.<\/p>\n

The session was scheduled for the court to deliver its decisions on the defense application and the prosecution\u2019s counter-application.<\/p>\n

Judge Simon Stephen read out the first ruling, which concerned the accused persons\u2019 right to lawyers of their choice.<\/p>\n

The defence had asked the court to affirm that right, arguing that none of the accused had requested a change of legal representation.<\/p>\n

The court said it continued to uphold the accused persons\u2019 right to choose their lawyers and had not interfered with that right.<\/p>\n

However, the ruling noted concerns over repeated applications submitted directly by the fifth accused, Dr. Riek Machar, which the court said were similar to applications already filed by his legal counsel.<\/p>\n

The court said the repeated applications had resulted in warnings being issued to both the defense and the accused.<\/p>\n

It said an accused person who is represented by counsel should normally address the court through their lawyer.<\/p>\n

The court explained that this was necessary to avoid confusion and prevent parallel channels of procedural advocacy.<\/p>\n

The ruling also clarified that the court had never ordered the removal of any defense lawyer.<\/p>\n

The accused persons, the court said, continued to have their legal counsel.<\/p>\n

The court further emphasised its authority to maintain order and manage proceedings, with the lead advocate expected to address the court unless absent.<\/p>\n

The defence application was therefore dismissed because it had not demonstrated that the court had issued an order removing any defense lawyer.<\/p>\n

The court then turned to the prosecution\u2019s counter-application concerning the timing of defense statements.<\/p>\n

Dr. James Alala Deng read out the second ruling, which addressed the prosecution\u2019s request that the remaining four accused be questioned before their defense statements were read.<\/p>\n

The prosecution had argued that reading the defense statements before examination would not be appropriate.<\/p>\n

The court rejected the argument, holding that it has the discretion to manage proceedings and allow accused persons to clarify matters where necessary.<\/p>\n

The court said oral statements are provided for under the law, while written statements may also be submitted and recorded for reference.<\/p>\n

It noted that prosecution witnesses and four other accused persons had previously been allowed to submit written statements.<\/p>\n

The court said accused persons may speak orally if they wish, while those who choose to submit written statements may do so.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the court reminded the accused to remain focused on their defense and avoid irrelevant matters.<\/p>\n

The judge said the court could ask questions whenever clarification was required.<\/p>\n

The prosecution\u2019s counter-application was subsequently overruled and dismissed.<\/p>\n

With both applications settled, the court ordered proceedings to return to the examination of the fifth accused, Dr. Riek Machar.<\/p>\n

The trial was adjourned until 7 October 2026, when Machar is expected to continue his examination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph The Nasir incident trial resolved two applications on Friday, clearing the way for Dr. Riek Machar\u2019s examination to continue. All parties attended the 119th session except Accused No. 4 and Accused No. 6, who were absent for health reasons. The session was scheduled for the court to[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":48419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48511","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\/10\/Accused-No.-3-Dr-Riek-Machar-during-one-of-the-court-sessions-courtesy-photo-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48511","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=48511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48512,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48511\/revisions\/48512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}