Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his Mauritanian counterpart on the arrest and trial of Biram Abeid and others involved in anti-slavery campaigns in that country; and if he will make a statement.
The UK’s representative in Nouakchott has raised our concern at the Biram Abeid case with the Mauritanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in particular the length of the activists’ sentence. With other EU member states, the UK made a public statement to express our concern on 20 January. We understand that the activists are appealing the sentence, and we are considering what further representations will we make to the Government of Mauritania following the outcome of this appeal.