MP seeks freedom for Romanian priest

CATHOLIC member of Parliament David Alton has made a personal plea this week for the release of a Romanian priest who has spent more than 20 years in jail because of his religious beliefs.
Mr Alton, the Liberal MP for Liverpool, Mossley Hill, is representing his party at celebrations in Bucharest to mark the fortieth anniversary of Romania's liberation after the second World War.
During his visit, Mr Alton will also deliver a letter for David Steel, the Liberal Party Leader, to the Romanian authorities.
Fr Calcui, 56, is serving a tenyear sentence in Bucharest's Celea Rachoui Prison for "betrayal of state secrets". He was last seen two years ago when visitors reported that he was chained by his hands and his feet, and weighed just six stone.
An Orthodox priest, Fr Calcui was released from prison in 1963 after 16 years, only to be rearrested in 1979 and sentenced for denouncing the Romanian state's policy of atheism as "a philosophy of despair".
International pressure has been brought to bear on the Romanian authorities in recent months to release Fr Calcui. Questions about his condition have been tabled for an early reply in the House of Commons.