A Sudanese Church leader in jail for more than five months without charges was transferred to the State Security Court on Tuesday, according to Thabith al Zuber, his lawyer in Khartoum.

The chuch leader, Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor, was arrested on December 13th in his home after attending a religious conference in Ethiopia.

Lawyers defending Tawor say they have not seen the charges, and accuse the government of regularly arresting Church leaders.

The government alledgedly asked Tawor about statements he made about Sudan's government persecuting Christians.

One church leader said the conference in Ethiopia was about how to carry out religious missions.

“We do not know why are they asking this question”, a church leader said.

Many of members in the Sudanese Church of Christ are from Nuba Mountains in Sudan’s South Kordofan State, where government is fighting an insurgency.