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who had been arrested on 18 March 1975 when he returned to Senegal. Prison terms of up to 2 years were passed on the accused.
At the time of writing (May 1975), Amnesty International was gathering data on these prisoners. AI was particularly disturbed by strong allegations that some of the prisoners arrested in December 1974 and January 1975 were subjected to torture during interrogation.
Sierra Leone
Following a bomb attack on the residence of Minister of Finance C.A. Kamara Taylor in the Sierra Leone capital Freetown on 30 July 1974, the government issued detention orders under the Public Emergency Regulations against some 35 people. A number of these were prominent political personalities who had been previously detained in 1970 when a new opposition party, the United Democratic Party (UDP), broke away from the ruling All People's Congress (APC). Several were former Amnesty International adoptees during their detentions from 1970 until 1973.
At the end of August 1974, 15 people appeared in court in Freetown charged with treason and plotting the unlawful overthrow of the government. In view of the grave nature of the charges and the possibility of the death sentence being imposed, AI Secretary General Martin Ennals wrote in early October to President Siaka Stevens appealing to him to ensure that the accused received a fair and public trial.
The trial did in fact take place in public and was amply reported in the local press. The accused also received the assistance of defence lawyers. In mid- November, however, all 15 were found guilty and sentenced to death. AI immediately appealed to President Stevens to commute the sentences. The 15 appealed to the Sierra Leone Court of Appeals, which rejected all but one of their appeals in May 1975. The 14 persons still under sentence of death are now appealing to the Sierra Leone Supreme Court.
In addition to the 15 persons brought before the courts, more than 80 individuals were detained under the Public Emergency Regulations in the wake of the bombing. Many have since been released, but the Research Department has taken up as investigation cases those few persons about whom sufficient data has been available.
Somalia
In October 1974 Amnesty International adopted 13 teachers who were senten- ced to prison terms ranging from 7 to 10 years in April 1974 for organizing and taking part in an illegal strike. Under the National Security Law of 10 September 1970, all strikes are banned.
A further trial took place in Somalia in October 1974, when former Prime Minister Mohammed Ibrahim Egal was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment and a heavy fine on charges of corruption. Mr Egal had been an AI investigation case during his imprisonment without trial from October 1969 (when his government was overthrown by a military coup) until April 1973. In November 1974, AI Secretary General Martin Ennals wrote to President Muhammad Siad Barre, head of Somalia's Supreme Revolutionary Council for clarification of the exact charges