கொலை, கடத்தல், சித்ரவதைக்காக அர்ஜண்டைனா கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் கைது

அர்ஜண்டைனா ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க கிறிஸ்துவ பாதிரியார் கிறிஸ்டியன் வான் வெர்னிக் ஏழு கொலைகளிலும், 41 கடத்தல் சித்திரவதை வழக்குகளிலும் சம்பந்தப்பட்டுள்ளார்.

முந்தைய அரசாங்கத்தின் உதவியால் எந்த வித வழக்கும் அவர் மீது வராமல் தப்பித்திருக்கிறார்.

சித்ரவதைகளை மேற்பார்வையிட்டு இயேசுவுக்காக இவற்றை செய்ததாக கூறியிருக்கிறார்.

இப்போதைய அரசு முன்னாள் அரசின் மன்னிப்பை நீக்கிவிட்டு இவர் மீது வழக்கு தொடர்ந்திருக்கிறது.

Argentine priest in murder trial
By Daniel Schweimler
BBC News, Buenos Aires

An estimated 30,000 people were killed or "disappeared" during the regime
The trial is due to begin in Argentina of one of the most notorious figures of the military government in power between 1976 and 1983.
Roman Catholic priest Christian Von Wernich is accused of involvement in seven murders and 41 cases of kidnapping and torture.

He escaped prosecution under amnesty laws which were later declared unconstitutional.

Security is tight. More than 100 witnesses have special protection.

It is a trial is one the people of Argentina have been waiting a long time for.

False name

Father Von Wernich was chaplain to the Buenos Aires provincial police force, and he is accused of using his office to win the trust of prisoners before passing information to the police torturers and killers who were holding them.

He is also reported to have attended a number of torture sessions himself and reassured the police that they were doing God's work.

He escaped prosecution after the democratic governments that followed the military passed amnesty laws.

Father Von Wernich worked under a false name in Chile, but investigators tracked him down and he was arrested four years ago.

Those amnesty laws have since been declared unconstitutional and some of those responsible for the killing of an estimated 30,000 people under military rule between 1976 and 1983 are finally being brought to trial in Argentina.

But witnesses have been threatened and one, Julio Lopez, disappeared after giving evidence at a trial last year and has not been seen since.

The trial is expected to last two months.