Proceedings against South Sudan’s suspended First Vice-President Riek Machar and seven fellow defendants have been postponed until Wednesday, 23 September, after the defence team highlighted security risks facing the lawyers and the accused.

The Special Court had been scheduled on Friday to decide on a defence request seeking clarification of the defendants’ constitutional right to legal counsel, along with a responding application from the prosecution.

Instead, during the 115th session, the defence lawyers presented a written submission to the court and prosecution addressing their security situation.

This followed earlier expressions of concern about reported threats directed at the defence team and the eight accused individuals.

Lead defence counsel Geri Raimondo Legge informed the court on Friday that the circumstances could place the lives of those involved in serious danger.

“My lord, we have an application to submit. There is a serious threat to the life of the defence and the eight accused persons, especially the fifth accused. It needs serious attention,” Legge said.

Presiding Judge James Alala Deng directed the defence not to read the application aloud in open court, so the specifics of the alleged threats were not disclosed publicly.

The judge then adjourned the case to Wednesday, 23 September, noting that the postponement related to security arrangements.

Machar and the seven co-defendants face trial in connection with violence that occurred in Nasir, Upper Nile State, in March 2025, during which government forces incurred heavy losses.

The charges against them include treason, murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property, and crimes against humanity.

Prosecutors claim that forces linked to Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), acting together with the White Army militia, killed 257 South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) soldiers, among them military commander General David Majur Dak, in an assault on a military garrison in Nasir.

They further allege that military equipment valued at approximately $58 million was destroyed or seized during the fighting.Machar and the other defendants have rejected the charges.