From Al-Jazeera…
A Roman Catholic priest has gone on trial in Argentina charged with involvement in kidnappings, murder and torture while the country was under military rule from 1976 to 1983.
Heavy security surrounded the courthouse in La Plata as the trial got under way on Thursday, with defendant Christian Von Wernich wearing a bullet-proof vest.
The Roman Catholic priest is charged with participating in seven murders, 42 kidnappings, and 31 cases of torture while he was chaplain to the Buenos Aires police force.
He is accused of using his religious position to obtain confessions from prisoners who were held at secret detention centers.
The case has raised questions about the church’s role during Argentina’s so-called Dirty War and although Von Wernich is the first priest to face trial for crimes, about 20 others are alleged to have worked with the military government.
“Von Wernich would visit prisoners after horrific torture sessions and asked them to trust him, to give him information in exchange for an improvement in the conditions of their detention,” Carlos Zaidman, a survivor of one of the detention camps, said.
