Trial of two pastors resumes in Khartoum with investigator testimony

May 31, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – A court in Khartoum resumed its sessions in the trial of two pastors from South Sudan charged with espionage and trying to foment sedition and incite hatred among tribes and religious sects.

Reverend Yat Michael and Reverend Peter Yen – of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (PEC) – have been detained by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in Khartoum at two separate occasions.

Michael, a visiting pastor from South Sudan, was taken into custody in December after giving a service at the Khartoum North church of the PEC.

Reverend Peter Yen was also visiting Khartoum when he was arrested last January after responding to a summons to report to an office of the NISS.

The investigator in the case Mohamed Khair Ibrahim told the court on Sunday that the second defendant managed an organization working to distort the image of Sudan through reports sent to circles hostile to the country so that the information would be used in human rights reports.

He said that lectures and training packages belonging to the NISS were found in the personal computer of the first defendant.

“It is the same curriculum that is taught in all stages at the NISS, including a package on psychological aspects to deal with investigators which is one of the advanced courses in the bureau,” Ibrahim said.

He said the defendant was unable to provide any explanation for the possession of such data.

“But through investigation [we found] that there is an intelligence work [done] by the first defendant which prompted him to keep the curriculum despite its secrecy”.

Ibrahim displayed a picture of President Omer Hassan al-Bashir with the word “WANTED” underneath and pointed out that it demonstrates that the first defendant tried to portray a bad image of the president.

He also presented a drawing found in the first defendant’s PC showing a map of Sudan divided into five, ethnic states and said that the goal was to show South Kordofan and Darfur as part of South Sudan.

He added that the information seized reveal maps and statistics which have been compiled to tarnish the image of Sudan.

Among them was a report claiming that children in Darfur are not allowed to enter school until they have memorized the Koran which was cited as a reason for under-enrolment in schools and illiteracy in Darfur.

He stressed that such information is false and that memorizing Koran is not an enrolment perquisite to enter the schools.

(ST)