Brussels, 03/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - In a letter sent to George Ryan, Governor of the State of Illinois, the European Union called for the pardoning of Gregory Madej, a Pole condemns to death in 1982. The letter underlines that the latter was not informed of his right to consult his consulate to ask it for help. "The Polish authorities have been unable to provide help to Mr Madej as they only heard of his detention in 1998", specifies the letter signed by the Swedish Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jan Eliasson, whose country holds the EU's rotating Presidency, and Gunter Burghardt, head of the Commission Delegation in Washington. The Governor of Illinois, who decreed a moratorium on the death penalty in January 2000, will grant his utmost attention to the European request, indicated his spokesperson.