WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1397/98 by Leonie van BLADEL to the Council. Legal aid for EU prisoners in Morocco
Date: 1998-05-06
Institutions: European Parliament, VAN BLADEL
Subjects: EU national, Morocco, Netherlands, legal aid, prisoner, return migration

21. 10. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 323/131

The  Council  is  satisfied  that  Member  States  are  complying  fully  with  Common  Position  95/544/CFSP  and
Council Decision 97/820/CFSP on its implementation. The latter implies no change EU policy towards Nigeria
and  no  relaxation  of  EU  measures  against  it.  Indeed,  the  Council(cid:146)s  Conclusions  of  28  November  1997
accompanying the Decision to renew Common Position 95/544/CFSP make it clear that if elections in Nigeria
this  year  fail  to  permit  a  return  to  democracy  and  the  rule  of  law  before  1  October  1998,  the  EU  will  adopt
measures in addition to those adopted in Common Position 95/544/CFSP.

(98/C 323/202)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1396/98

by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Council

(6 May 1998)

Subject: Agreement for the return of EU nationals held in prison in Morocco

Can the Council explain why only one person is employed, one week per month, to defend the interests of

1.
almost 100 Netherlands prisoners in seven different Moroccan prisons throughout the country?

2.
Is not one person for 100 prisoners, divided among 7 prisons in different parts of the country, far too few
given  that  the  UK  Government  (for  example)  has  six  full-time  employees  to  defend  the  interests  of  only
35 prisoners?

3.
Is the Council prepared to advise the Member States that they should enter negotiations without delay with
the Moroccan Government with a view to concluding an agreement as soon as possible to permit prisoners from
EU Member States to serve their sentences in their own countries?

(98/C 323/203)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1397/98

by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Council

(6 May 1998)

Subject: Legal aid for EU prisoners in Morocco

1.
Is the Council aware of the helpless situation in which suspects from countries of the European Union are
placed  when  they  are  deprived  of  adequate  legal  aid,  the  assistance  of  professional  interpreters,  or  adequate
humanitarian aid in Morocco, a country where they have no notion of the language?

Does the Council realize the serious consequences which such a lack of professional support may have for

2.
EU nationals in court proceedings?

Is the Council aware that the prisoners in Morocco from EU Member States include a number of people

3.
aged over 70 who are in a state of cultural isolation and are suffering disproportionately as a result?

4.
Is the Council aware that, following the visit in October 1997 of the Netherlands official delegation headed
by  Mr  Damoiseaux,  Head  of  the  African  Department  of  The  Netherlands  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  the
Netherlands Foreign Ministry has made no further contacts with the Moroccan Government to negotiate a treaty
for the transfer of prisoners to The Netherlands to enable them complete their sentences in Netherlands prisons?

5. Why has there been no response to the Moroccan Government(cid:146)s offer, made in October 1997, to negotiate
with  the  Netherlands  Government  on  a  treaty  to  enable  Netherlands  citizens  to  serve  their  sentences  in  the
Netherlands,  in  their  own  cultural  surroundings?  This  question  is  particularly  pertinent  since  the  Moroccan
Government has already signed similar treaties with France, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Malta and Belgium among
others. In 1997, within half a year, the Moroccan Government negotiated its treaty with the Belgian Government,
and  signed  the  final  agreement  with  Belgium.  Why  should  the  completion  of  a  similar  treaty  between  The
Netherlands and Morocco take longer than this?