SOUTH SUDAN’S first vice president Riek Machar faces charges of treason and other serious crimes, local justice authorities said Thursday.

This comes as fears grow that the east African country could be edging toward a return to civil war.

Mr Machar has been under house arrest since March after the transitional government he is a part of accused him of subversive activities against President Salva Kiir.

The president said on Thursday that he was suspending Mr Machar as his deputy because of the criminal allegations.

Pro-government troops have been fighting militias and other armed groups that they say are loyal to Mr Machar, who has served as his country’s number two under the terms of a delicate peace deal signed in 2018.

That agreement has not been fully implemented, with presidential elections repeatedly postponed.

In addition to treason, Mr Machar and seven others face charges of murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and military assets and crimes against humanity.

The charges stem from a violent incident in March when a militia known as the White Army overran a garrison of government troops, killing its commanding officer and others.

The justice ministry said that the attack in Nasir, Upper Nile state was influenced by Mr Machar and others via “co-ordinated military and political structures.”

Bringing criminal charges against Mr Machar is likely to further destabilise South Sudan, whose government faces pressure from regional leaders to reach a political agreement that prevents a return to full-blown war.

A spokesman for Mr Machar, Puok Both Baluang, said the charges “constitute a political witch hunt” and that the justice system lacks independence and can be directed politically.

Edmund Yakani, a prominent civic leader in South Sudan, warned that the suspects should be presented in a competent court and not what he described as “a kangaroo court of law.”

He said he hopes citizens will be able to attend court proceedings.