Trial of Slovene envoy starts in Darfur
Aug 1, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Court proceedings against Tomo Kriznar, Slovene president’s special envoy to the Sudan’s Darfur region, who entered Sudan through Chad without being issued with an entry visa by Sudanese authorities, started Monday at Al-Fashir Court headed by Judge Hisham Mohamed Yousif.
In Monday’s proceedings the court listened to the testimony of the investigator who pointed out that the accused was a foreigner and entered Sudan since the beginning of April and was moving from place to place, taking different photos and videos, using cameras and video cameras which were found in his possession.
The investigator said that the pictures that were seized from the accused amounted to 5,000 and that he was also sending news reports through the internet in which he accused the Sudanese government of attacking some regions and villages using planes, the state-run SUNA reported.
The investigator went on to say that the activities of the accused contributed strongly to the idea of replacing the AU mission in Darfur with UN troops, as was clearly stated in some of his written reports which were found in his laptop computer.
The investigator handed over the exhibits which were seized from the accused which included different types of cameras, a laptop and written reports.
The investigator added that despite the accused being a journalist, he could not confirm this and because of what the accused had done he faced charges under section 32 of the passport and migration law for entering the country without a valid visa, section 35 of the criminal law for spying and section 56 of the criminal law for spreading false and damaging reports.
Kiznar had requested a visa from the Sudanese embassy in Vienna but his request was denied due to his hostile positions to Sudanese government expressed through his negative writing in the newspapers of his country.
Kriznar was arrested in Darfur on Wednesday July 19.
The Slovene ministry of foreign affairs urged Sudanese government to release Kriznar, pointing out his humanitarian activities and stressed its hope that he be released as soon as possible due to his medical condition..
(ST)