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English edition -2nd quarter 1998
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Arrest and temporary release of the Archbishop of Khartoum
| Bishop Gabriel Zubeir Wako, Catholic Archbishop of Khartoum, was arrested
at his residence on Friday May 1st 1998 around 7 a.m. local time (5.00
GMT) on the strength of a warrant delivered by a tribunal of Omdurman.
The prelate was due to take part in the peace talks of the I.G.A.D. scheduled
to take place in Nairobi from 4th to 8th of May on the invitation of the
Head of State.
Bishop Zubeir was taken to the nearest police station. The news stirred deep emotion among the Catholic population, which is strong in the capital, and led some groups of faithful to gather around the Archbishop’s residence. Around 13 hours, the Archbishop was released with orders to go at once to present himself to the Supreme Court. It is an old story going back to the years 1988-1989, when Sudan-Aid (Caritas Sudan) bought food supplies from a Sudanese trader for the needs of the displaced persons in the South. Five years later, the trader made a court case against the Archbishop as head of the Catholic Church for the non-payment of goods to the value of $ 30,136.00. Sudan-Aid maintained that the bill had been paid, but the receipt had been mislaid. The Court settled the case twice in favour of the Archbishop, but at the occasion of the third appeal, the Church was condemned to pay, not the first claim of $ 30,136.00, but a new claim amounting to $ 644,000.00, with the specification that, if the Church failed to comply with the Court decision, the Archbishop would spend time in prison, and 11 vehicles belonging to the Archdiocese for the distribution of food to the needy were to be confiscated. The Archbishop accepted to part with the $ 30,136.00 that were first under dispute, but refused to pay the balance on the ground that he had never received goods for that amount, and moreover that he was not in a position to squander funds that were given for the displaced persons. He added that he was ready to go to prison. An attempt to arrest the Archbishop on Easter Sunday was aborted because of the intervention of several foreign Ambassadors who happened to be on the spot. At that moment, the Head of State, General Bechir, asked the Archbishop of Khartoum to be present at the peace negotiations scheduled to take place at Nairobi from May 4th to May 18th. The Supreme Court bowed to the wishes of the President and suspended the execution of the court decision till after the return of the Archbishop. It was then that the order for the Archbishop’s arrest was given by some unspecified authority. It can be safely assumed, however, that this affair has political undercurrents reflecting the struggle for power and the existence of conflicting tendences within the Sudanese governing class: some politicians want to handle with care the Catholic Church, while others are intent only upon breaking its back. In the same way, some might be wishing the Archbishop of Khartoum to attend the Nairobi conference in order to exercise a moderating influence in the discussions, while others are fearing his presence for the very same reason and trying to prevent his departure by detaining him in prison. As a result of his arrest and subsequent release, Bishop Zubeir, still fully prepared to face imprisonment, was in the horns of a dilemma staying in Khartoum or spending a fortnight in Kenya at the service of his country. His choice has now been made: he shall go. On Saturday morning May 2nd, he applied for an exit visa. |
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Summary by VS of a press release from the Archdiocese
of Khartoum
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