Brussels, July 15, 2017 (SPS) - The Intergroup on Western Sahara in the European Parliament on Saturday expressed its solidarity with Saharawi students held in Oudaya, sentenced to heavy prison terms, urging the head of European diplomacy Federica Mogherini to take action to ensure that their rights are respected and the sentences pronounced against them "annulled".
"As members of the European Parliament, we express our solidarity with the group of students of Oudaya and ask for your intervention," wrote MEPs Jytte Guteland, Paloma Lopez, Ivo Vajgl, Bodil Valero and Fabio Massimo Castaldo in a letter to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the Intergroup on Western Sahara.
These MEPs called on Ms Mogherini to intervene so that the sentences pronounced on 6 July, against the 14 Saharawi political prisoners known as the group of "Oudaya students" were annulled because they considered that "the right to a fair trial has not been respected".
The Intergroup on Western Sahara demanded Mogherini to take steps to investigate allegations of torture so that perpetrators could be held responsible.
MEPs also called for respect for the fundamental rights of all Saharawi political prisoners, calling on the EU delegation in Rabat to meet these prisoners and monitor any future judicial proceedings. (SPS)
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