{"id":48993,"date":"2026-10-20T18:36:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T16:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=48993"},"modified":"2026-10-20T18:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T16:36:53","slug":"special-court-court-adjourned-as-fuel-shortage-disrupts-122nd-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/20\/special-court-court-adjourned-as-fuel-shortage-disrupts-122nd-session\/","title":{"rendered":"SPECIAL COURT: Court adjourned as fuel shortage disrupts 122nd session"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

A fuel shortage disrupted proceedings in the trial of former First Vice President Riek Machar on Monday, forcing the Special Court to postpone a scheduled ruling until Friday, October 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

The court had planned to deliver its decision during the 122nd session on Machar\u2019s application to present video footage in support of his defense.<\/p>\n

However, proceedings were adjourned after judges were informed that the generator could not operate because of a lack of fuel.<\/p>\n

Judge Stephen Simon Binjigwa, a member of the three-judge panel, announced the postponement and confirmed that the court would reconvene on Friday to rule on the application.<\/p>\n

Machar, the fifth accused, is seeking permission to play footage challenging public statements attributed to former Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel, former Defense Minister Gen. Chol Thon Bolek and other officials during and after his arrest.<\/p>\n

The statements reportedly include remarks made during the state burial of the late Gen. David Majur Dak in Juba.<\/p>\n

Machar argues that the footage would support his claim that the trial is politically motivated.<\/p>\n

The court has yet to decide whether the video material will be admitted for presentation. Friday\u2019s ruling will address that application, not the final outcome of the broader criminal case.<\/p>\n

The trial stems partly from an alleged attack on the Nasir military garrison in Upper Nile State in March 2025.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege that SPLA-IO forces allied with the White Army killed 257 South Sudan People\u2019s Defence Forces soldiers, including Gen. David Majur Dak.<\/p>\n

The prosecution further alleges that military equipment worth approximately $58 million was destroyed or captured during the attack.<\/p>\n

Machar and seven co-defendants face charges including murder, conspiracy, terrorism, treason, destruction of public property and crimes against humanity. The allegations remain subject to determination by the court.<\/p>\n

Machar is currently under house arrest, while the other defendants are being held at National Security Service facilities in Juba.<\/p>\n

The court is expected to resume proceedings on Friday, October 23, when it will determine whether Machar can present the video footage as part of his defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph A fuel shortage disrupted proceedings in the trial of former First Vice President Riek Machar on Monday, forcing the Special Court to postpone a scheduled ruling until Friday, October 23, 2026. The court had planned to deliver its decision during the 122nd session on Machar\u2019s application to[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48993","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=48993"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48995,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48993\/revisions\/48995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}