Portugal 'abuse victims' in court

More than 30 young people who say they were sexually abused in Portuguese care homes are starting to give evidence at a high-profile "sex ring" trial.

Reporters and members of the public will be barred from the courtroom, while the seven defendants will follow the proceedings from an adjacent room.

The court will issue a summary of the evidence at the end of each day.

The accused include a TV star, a former diplomat and an ex-director of the Casa Pia children's home network.

The marathon Casa Pia trial has gripped the public's attention in Portugal since it began last November.

The defendants face charges including the rape of minors, child sexual abuse and procurement of children from Casa Pia, a 200-year-old institution providing schools and orphanages for children from troubled backgrounds.

Abuse at Casa Pia is said to have started in the mid-1970s, but was not discovered until 2002.

About 700 witnesses and 32 alleged victims, some of them under 16 years old, are due to testify in the case.

Sensitivity needed

The abuse allegedly took place at the Lisbon-based Casa Pia, a state-run network with 10 homes looking after more than 4,000 children.

Social workers at the homes say more than 100 children still at the institution show signs of having been sexually molested.

The current Casa Pia director, Catalina Pestana, appeared as a witness last week.

She urged the court to be sensitive to the young people who would appear in court.

"From now on it is not a normal, 57-year-old, educated and intelligent woman who will be here," she said.

"There will be children, adolescents and youths who have not had everything which we have all had up until now."

Lawyers say they expect the trial to last until the middle of 2005.