SSFDA Condemns Kiir’s Sham Trial
The South Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SSFDA) denounces President Salva Kiir’s sham trial of opposition leaders, including Dr. Riek Machar, as a political show trial to silence dissent and evade accountability. Kiir has blocked the 2018 Hybrid Court while committing atrocities—bombings, ethnic cleansing, killings, and corruption. SSFDA calls for independent international observers, the immediate dismissal of fabricated charges, and true justice for the victims of South Sudan.
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Pressoffice SSFDA
9/12/20252 min read
South Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SSFDA)
Office of the Chairman
Juba / Nairobi / Geneva
12 September 2025
Press Release
South Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SSFDA)
For Immediate Release
SSFDA Condemns Kiir’s Sham Trial as a Weaponization of Justice
The South Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SSFDA) categorically condemns the sham trial orchestrated by President Salva Kiir and his regime against opposition leaders, including Dr. Riek Machar and others. This process is nothing more than a political show trial designed to silence dissent, consolidate authoritarian rule, and divert attention from the grave atrocities committed under Kiir’s government.
For over a decade, the people of South Sudan have suffered systematic violence, mass displacement, targeted assassinations, and economic collapse. Under Kiir’s rule, war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed with impunity:
Indiscriminate bombings of civilian villages, including the use of foreign-supplied drones.
Ethnic cleansing campaigns that have displaced millions and devastated communities.
Extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances carried out by the National Security Service (NSS).
Grand corruption and kleptocracy that have stolen the nation’s wealth while citizens starve.
The attempt to now put opposition leaders on trial through a politically controlled judiciary is a direct violation of international law and the principles of due process. It is an insult to justice that those who should themselves be facing international accountability for war crimes are instead presiding over fabricated charges against their political rivals.
The so-called case presented by the Minister of Justice collapses upon the most basic legal examination:
Section 334 of the Penal Code Act (2008), cited as “destruction of public property,” in fact defines housebreaking by night.
Section 186 of the Penal Code Act (2008), cited as “crimes against humanity,” in fact concerns fouling of public wells and water reservoirs.
Section 44 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act (2012/2024), cited for “terrorism financing,” bears no relevance to the events in Nasir.
These misapplied and irrelevant provisions prove the charges are frivolous, vexatious, and politically motivated. No credible, impartial court could sustain them.
SSFDA’s Position
On International Law: SSFDA reaffirms its full commitment to international humanitarian law, human rights law, and accountability. Trials must be fair, impartial, and transparent—not politically manipulated instruments of persecution.
On Due Process: SSFDA calls for independent international legal observers and, if necessary, an international tribunal under the African Union or the United Nations to investigate and adjudicate these matters.
On Accountability: True accountability must begin with those in power who have ordered, enabled, and profited from atrocities—not with opposition leaders scapegoated for political gain.
Call to the International Community
SSFDA urgently calls upon the African Union, IGAD, the United Nations, the European Union, and all democratic governments to reject this sham trial and to press for genuine justice mechanisms. The international community must not legitimize Kiir’s weaponization of law. Instead, it must support efforts that place the victims of violence at the center and ensure accountability for the real perpetrators of South Sudan’s suffering.
The people of South Sudan deserve peace, dignity, and justice—not dictatorship dressed in the robes of law.
Samuel Mut Gai Dhap
Chairman and Commander-in-Chief
South Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SSFDA)
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