Brussels, 16/08/2000 (Agence Europe) - Last week, the French Presidency made the following declaration on behalf of the EU:
"The EU notes with deep concern the verdict announced on 8th August 2000 against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, and his sentencing to 9 years imprisonment in addition to the 6 years imposed at his first trial. The EU followed continuously and with close attention the proceedings of this trial, which was attended by members of its missions in Kuala Lumpur. The EU recalls its previous declarations 2 October 1998, 27 November 1998 and 14 April 1999 on the arrest and the first trial of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and regrets that several aspects of the proceedings in the second trial, as was the case with the first, raise doubts about its fairness. The EU calls for the appeal process already announced by the defence lawyers to be carried out according to the accepted international standards of a fair trial and will continue to pay close attention to the case.
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic, the associated countries Cyprus and Malta, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the EEA align themselves with this declaration."