S.Sudan opposition says vice-president Machar indictment threatens renewed war

South Sudan's opposition told AFP on Friday that moves to try Vice-President Riek Machar for treason and crimes against humanity were politically motivated and would push the world's youngest nation back to civil war.

A fragile power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, First Vice-President Machar, has been unravelling for months.

On Thursday, Machar was charged with murder, treason and crimes against humanity over an ethnic militia's attack on a military base in March.

Information Minister Michael Makuei downplayed fears of renewed conflict and said Machar was being given a fair trial.

"Nobody is above the law," he told AFP. "There is no question of any fears... he has the right to defend himself."

Machar is accused of ordering the attack on the military base by the so-called White Army, a loose band of fighters from his ethnic Nuer community.

They attacked the base in Nasir County, Upper Nile State in the northeast of the country, killing more than 250 soldiers.

His supporters say he was not involved in the attack and the charges are part of Kiir's efforts to sideline his party and consolidate power.

"The process is a political persecution, not a criminal prosecution," Juol Nhomngek Daniel, a former lawmaker in Machar's party, told AFP.

He said Machar's supporters would soon "reach their limits" and turn to violence.

"The fighting will be disorganised, leading to widespread insecurity," he said.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but was quickly plunged into a devastating five-year civil war between Kiir and Machar that left some 400,000 dead.

The war ended with a power-sharing agreement in 2018 but attempts by the international community to ensure a democratic transition have failed.

Elections that were due to take place in December 2024 were again postponed to 2026.

The United Nations warned earlier this year that South Sudan was "witnessing an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress".

Edmund Yakani, a well-known civil society leader in Juba, told AFP that charges against Machar were expected but their severity was "shocking".

Charging him with crimes against humanity was "politically motivated", he said, and "legally... not justifiable" since it does not exist in South Sudan's laws.

"Those who are in the bush will now go and mobilise fully to trigger a full-scale war," he added, pointing to recent calls by a Nuer spiritual leader to mobilise against the government.