Trial of pastors adjourned in Sudan capital

The third session of the case against three pastors and a Christian layman at Khartoum Criminal Court, was once again adjourned early, this time owing to the non-appearance of a translator.

Dimas James Marajan, defence lawyer representing Czech pastor named Petr Jasek, Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Kodi and Rev. Kuwa Shemaal, Nuba pastors from South Kordofan, and Darfuri activist Abdelmoneim Abdelmoula, told Radio Dabanga that the Court was due to hear evidence from a State Security advisor, which included photographs, video and audio footage which he claimed were taken in South Kordofan’s Nuba Mountains in 2012.

When it was discovered that there was no interpreter present, Judge Osama Abdallah adjourned the hearing until Monday. A suitable translator will be sourced from the translation and localisation unit of the University of Khartoum.

The defendants face charges of conspiring against the state, espionage, entering and photographing military areas, calling for the use of violence against the authorities, provoking hatred against or amongst sects, and spreading false information. Several of the charges are punishable by death or life imprisonment.

The Human Rights and Development Organisation (Hudo) Centre reported recently that according to the prosecutor, the four defendants allegedly carried out intelligence activities against Sudan and supported the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan.

They are accused of fabricating allegations about genocide, extra-judicial killings, civilian displacement and the burning of villages in the Nuba Mountains, and about the demolition of churches, oppression, and torture of Christians by government forces. Rev. Jasek allegedly arrived in Sudan with the aim to take photos of demolished churches.