South Sudanese priests held in Khartoum on hunger strike

The two South Sudanese priests, held by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in Khartoum since five months, reportedly began a hunger strike on Tuesday.

On Sunday, 21 December last year, Rev. Yat Michael Ruot, a visiting South Sudanese pastor from Juba, capital of South Sudan, was detained after preaching at the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church in Khartoum North that morning. Rev. David Yein Reith, of the same church, was detained in January, when he was returning from a prayer meeting to the El Jereif West Bible School in Khartoum.

According to Reith’s relatives, his detention may be related to a letter, he handed to the Office of Religious Affairs in Khartoum to inquire about the fate of Rev. Ruot.

A member of the defence team told Khartoum-based El Tareeg electronic newspaper on Thursday that the NISS has opened a criminal case against them under articles 26, 50, 51, and 53, 62, and 125 of the Sudanese penal code. The charge under article 50, for undermining the constitutional order, carries the death penalty.

The two church leaders were led before the public prosecutor in March, but have not been brought to court until now. For this reason they embarked on a hunger strike, a defence lawyer said.

Amnesty International UK issued a statement on 10 February in which they urged the NISS to disclose the whereabouts of the two priests, as they were still being held incommunicado at that time.

Related article: Amnesty wants clarity from Sudan on two detained church leaders (10 February 2015)