South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar’s former spokesperson, who is facing charges of treason and other serious charges, claimed he was innocent of all the charges against him when he appeared in court in Juba on Thursday.
James Gatdet Dak was deported to the capital Juba by Kenyan authorities in November last year.
Just before his deportation to South Sudan, Gatdet had expressed his support for the removal of a Kenyan general of a United Nations peacekeeping force accused of failing to protect civilians after the outbreak of war in Juba in July last year.
A relative of Gatdet, who preferred anonymity, told Radio Tamazuj that Gatdet denied that he had incited violence on social media before clashes erupted at J1 in July 2016. He pointed out that Gatdet said he wrote a Facebook post after the clashes erupted around the presidential palace.
According to the relative, Gatdet also said he was writing on social media on orders of the main opposition leader Riek Machar. He added that Gatdet also denied accusations that he insulted President Kiir.
“He denied accusations that he insulted President Salva on his Facebook saying that is President Salva Kiir a war criminal? Gatdet said it was just a written statement shared on Facebook by a certain group,” he said.
The same relative revealed that Gatdet explained that he was deported to Juba by two Kenyan officials and handed over to National Security Services at Juba International Airport.