Brussels, 01/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - On 30 July the Danish Presidency made the following declaration on behalf of the European Union:
"The European Union remains highly preoccupied by the human rights situation in Liberia and urges the government of Liberia to fully respect its recent assurances that the fundamental rights of all citizens and residents in Liberia would be upheld. In particular, the European Union strongly condemns the arbitrary detention of Hassan Bility, the editor of the 'The Analyst' newspaper and two others. The Three were arrested on 24 June and accused of being dissident activists. They failed to appear in court as scheduled on 1 July. The EU calls upon the Government of Liberia to take immediate action to reassure the EU of the welfare of all three and to initiate legal proceedings against them or release them.