{"id":49574,"date":"2026-11-09T14:10:20","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T12:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=49574"},"modified":"2026-11-09T14:11:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T12:11:51","slug":"dr-machar-tells-court-we-worked-to-stop-nasirs-bloodshed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/09\/dr-machar-tells-court-we-worked-to-stop-nasirs-bloodshed\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Machar Tells Court: \u201cWe worked to stop Nasir’s bloodshed”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Former First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar has told the court that he and some of his co-accused repeatedly intervened to prevent violence and restore peace in Nasir County.<\/p>\n

Machar made the remarks during the 127th session of his ongoing trial, where he is the fifth accused, as he continued presenting his defence.<\/p>\n

He said he and his colleagues had worked with grassroots communities, traditional leaders and government officials to reduce tensions between the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) and armed youth in Nasir.<\/p>\n

Machar argued that the prosecution had overlooked their efforts to prevent violence, insisting that several confrontations were resolved peacefully through their interventions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Lord, I think four of us were accused of doing nothing to prevent some of this crisis, and I want to relate other incidents that ended peacefully,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n

Recounting one incident, Machar said large numbers of armed youth from different counties assembled at a location called Kech Kun shortly after Duol Kun Thian was appointed commissioner of Nasir County.<\/p>\n

He said the youth allegedly intended to capture oil fields in Malut, Longochuk and Maban counties and seize cattle and other movable property.<\/p>\n

Machar told the court that he coordinated efforts with then Petroleum Minister Puot Kang, the governor of Upper Nile State, and members of parliament led by Gatwech Lam, who is also among the accused.<\/p>\n

He said traditional chiefs and community elders joined the intervention, eventually convincing the armed youth to abandon their plans and return home.<\/p>\n

Machar further recounted another mobilisation of armed youth two years later, saying interventions by him and other leaders helped prevent a planned confrontation with SSPDF forces.<\/p>\n

He also cited a 2021 incident involving the arrest of two youth leaders by SSPDF soldiers, which reportedly triggered tensions between military personnel and civilian authorities over custody of the detainees.<\/p>\n

According to Machar, the dispute was eventually resolved peacefully, and the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) later investigated the incident under Report No. 2021\/19.<\/p>\n

Turning to the February 2024 violence, Machar told the court that clashes reportedly erupted following a dispute over stolen fishing nets.<\/p>\n

He said the confrontation resulted in deaths and injuries among civilians and soldiers, forcing residents to flee their homes as houses and other properties were reportedly looted and destroyed.<\/p>\n

Machar said CTSAMVM investigated the incident and issued Report No. 2024\/06, recommending the redeployment of SSPDF forces and deployment of Necessary Unified Forces (NUF).<\/p>\n

He also described how General Santino Deng Wol requested SPLA-IO intervention through its Acting Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Gabriel Duop Lam.<\/p>\n

Machar said approximately 750 SPLA-IO personnel were temporarily deployed under Major General Peter Lam Ruai to establish a buffer between local youth and SSPDF forces at Which-Yar-Adiu.<\/p>\n

He told the court that the forces later withdrew after relations improved and security conditions returned to normal.<\/p>\n

The former vice president further addressed violence recorded between January and August 2024, saying 12 incidents occurred during the period and displaced approximately 40,000 people.<\/p>\n

He also recounted the October 2024 clashes, which he said followed a child custody dispute involving an SSPDF officer.<\/p>\n

According to his testimony, the confrontation resulted in the deaths of soldiers and civilians and displaced more than 20,000 people.<\/p>\n

Beyond the military interventions, Machar highlighted peacebuilding initiatives involving churches, community leaders and local authorities in Nasir and Ulang.<\/p>\n

He cited church-led peace conferences, community petitions and public calls for the deployment of unified forces as part of efforts to address insecurity.<\/p>\n

Machar also described interventions at Kec-Kun and Menchar, where county leaders reportedly mobilised government officials, traditional authorities and UNMISS representatives to persuade groups of armed youth to abandon potentially violent plans.<\/p>\n

He presented these accounts as evidence that he and his colleagues had made efforts to prevent further violence, encourage reconciliation and restore peace in Nasir.<\/p>\n

The 127th court session was adjourned until November 11, 2026, when Machar is expected to continue his examination as part of his defence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph Former First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar has told the court that he and some of his co-accused repeatedly intervened to prevent violence and restore peace in Nasir County. Machar made the remarks during the 127th session of his ongoing trial, where he is the fifth accused,[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":48698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Dr.-Machar-raises-concerns-over-fair-trial-and-challenges-Special-Court-rulings-in-ongoing-case.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49574","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=49574"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49577,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49574\/revisions\/49577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}