South Sudanese protesters are protesting President Salva Kiir's government's detention and prosecution of former Vice President Riek Machar, who they say violated a peace agreement signed in 2018.

Former Vice President Riek Machar, who has been under house arrest and suspended, appeared in court with other defendants since Monday.

Machar appeared in public for the first time since being placed under house arrest on Monday.

The trial of the First Vice President and his co-defendants was broadcast live on national television.

Machar's political party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Resistance Party, has denied the charges of murder, treason, and crimes against humanity against him and 20 others.

The charges stem from an attack last year on a White Army militia group in the Nuer-dominated northeast of the country.

The opposition, who say President Salva Kiir's decision has opened the door to a new civil war, says they are engaged in a "regime change" movement.

Kiir immediately announced the resignation of Machar, who was his first vice president, after the indictment.