NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Two Catholic priests-- Fathers Hilary Boma and Lino Sebit-- have been tortured in Sudanese prisons, the Vatican news agency Fides announced today.

      Father Boma reportedly told four other Sudanese priests about the torture when he met them in a Khartoum jail on October 1. He said that he had been tortured, and that he had signed a "confession" of crimes against the state in order to stop the torture of Father Sebit.

      The news report from Fides came as a tribunal in Khartoum began prosecution of the two priests, and 18 other people, for allegedly participating in a dynamite attack in Khartoum last June 30. Father Boma is also accused of involvement in the Popular Army for the Liberation of Sudan (SPLA); he is being identified by government prosecutors as the head of a ring of rebels who, by their bombing attack, sought to disrupt electrical power in Khartoum. And Father Boma is further accused of orchestrating attempts on the lives of government leaders.

      The 20 defendants will be tried before a court of 3 judges: an engineer, a lawyer, and a military officer. Among those 20 defendants, 18 are Christians. All of the defendants were present when the court opened its first session, except Father Boma. He appeared later, appeared "tired," according to one eyewitness. After a short hearing, at which the accused designated their lawyers, the trial was adjourned until October 13.