The first vice-president of South Sudan, Riek Machar, was accused of murder, betrayal and crimes against humanity in a decision that some fear to revive the country’s civil war.
The Minister of Justice, Joseph Geng Akech, said that the charges against Machar relate to an attack in March by a militia which would have been linked to the vice-president.
The roads leading to his house in the capital, Juba, were blocked by tanks and soldiers.
The forces faithful to Machar fought a five -year civil war against those who support president Salva Kiir until a peace agreement in 2018 ending the fighting in the most recent country in the world.
Machar has been under house arrest since March, the UN, the African Union and the neighboring countries all calling for calm.
The 2018 peace agreement ended the conflict that had killed nearly 400,000 people, but the relationship between Machar and Kiir has become more and more tense in the midst of ethnic tensions and sporadic violence.
The Mars attack was led by the militia of white ants, largely made up of fighters from the Nuer ethnic group, the same as Machar.
They exceeded an army base in the city in the northeast of Nasir, killing 250 soldiers and one general. A United Nations helicopter was also criticized, leading to the death of his pilot.
South Sudan acquired its independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of conflict.
But in two years, the civil war broke out.
Additional reports by the BBC Nichola mandil in Juba
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