A UN official in South Sudan asked opposition leader and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar to send his wife, who is the interior minister, to Nasir County as a guarantee for the safe evacuation of stranded SSPDF soldiers in March, the special court in Juba has heard.
Brig. Gen. Santino Akot Abiem, the second prosecution witness, told the court that the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) made the request to Machar.
Machar, who is now suspended from his position as first vice president, rejected the proposal, the witness said.
Context of the trial
The high-profile trial, which entered its 30th session on Friday, relates to deadly clashes in Nasir County in March 2025 between the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) and a community-based militia known as the White Army. Prosecutors allege that forces loyal to Machar’s SPLA-IO were involved.
Details of the evacuation request
Brig. Gen. Akot, who was in charge of the evacuation process, testified that the operation was initiated by Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Paul Nang after the fall of Nasir on 4 March.
The presidency had delegated Machar and former vice president Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel to meet UN and regional representatives.
The witness said UNMISS made the request for Machar’s wife, Interior Minister Angelina Teny, on 7 March. It was the third attempt after two earlier efforts on 5–6 March failed due to attacks by the White Army, despite what he described as verbal safety guarantees from Machar.
“UNMISS requested that the First Vice President allow the minister of interior, Angelina Teny, to accompany the helicopters to convince the SPLA-IO and White Army forces to permit the evacuation,” Gen. Akot told the court.
He said Machar responded that “the government will never accept Hon. Angelina Teny to go to Nasir.”
Instead, Machar offered to send two other SPLM-IO officials from the Upper Nile state government to accompany the UN helicopters.
The failed evacuation attempt
The court heard that the evacuation attempt on 7 March failed when a UNMISS helicopter came under heavy fire as it approached Nasir.
Gen. Akot, a member of the Joint Verification Monitoring Mechanism (JVMM), testified that when the helicopter landed, the two SPLM-IO officials and a Ukrainian UN crew member exited the aircraft. As six SSPDF survivors disembarked from an armoured personnel carrier to board, they came under fire.
“The Ukrainian crew member was killed in that shooting,” Gen. Akot said. “The two SPLA-IO officials managed to board the helicopter unharmed.”
He recounted being in remote communication with soldiers who remained trapped in a tank during the incident.
“While the helicopters were in the air, I was still in communication with the soldiers in the tank. They said they were seeing Commander Majur being killed and the White Army advancing toward their tank. They burned them in the tank until I lost communication with them,” Akot said.
He added that Machar had given verbal assurances that opposing forces would stay 300 to 500 metres from the army garrison, but this guarantee was not observed on the ground.
Gen. Akot, who coordinated the operation from a UNMISS office and did not travel to Nasir, said Machar remained in contact throughout with UN personnel and local authorities.
Trial adjourned
After the testimony, defence lawyer Deng John Deng requested an adjournment to prepare for cross-examination.
Presiding Judge Dr. James Alala Deng adjourned the session until Monday, 15 December, when the defence is expected to question Gen. Akot.
Dr. Machar and seven co-accused face multiple charges, including murder, conspiracy, terrorism, financing terrorist acts, treason, destruction of property, and crimes against humanity.
The charges stem from the Nasir clashes, in which the government alleges 257 soldiers, including Gen. David Majur Dak, were killed.
The defence has previously rejected the charges as politically motivated.