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been subjected to torture and extremely long periods of solitary confinement.
At the end of October 1974, a French lawyer, Dr Mario Stasi, went to Madrid h an attempt to secure for the detainees the right to a proper defence and access to lawyers. His report made it clear that the conditions under which the detainees were held seriously contravened fundamental rights. Al groups with Spanish prisoners and national sections appealed to the Spanish authorities for a public and fair trial with full rights to defence and expressed concern at the strong allegations of ill-treatment. All of the 14 detainees involved were taken up as investigation cases. They are to be tried by a military court under legislation which carries the death penalty. An AI observer will attend the trial.
In February 1975, a Swiss lawyer, Christian Grobet, attended the appeal hearing of 10 leaders of the outlawed trade union organizations, the Comisiones Obreras, all of them adopted by AI. The Spanish court sharply reduced the long sentences imposed in late December 1973 on this group who had become known as the "Carabanchel 10", Four were released immediately and the other six had their imprisonment cut to 6 years from original sentences that varied from 17 to 20 years. Although this means that they are still serving extremely long sentences, the outcome is one good result of international pressure on Spanish authorities.
Another important trial is that of five people accused of being leaders of the clandestine political organization FRAP (Revolutionary Anti-Fascist Patriotic Front). A Portugese lawyer, Manual Correia Neves, went to Madrid on 7 March to represent AI in conjunction with the International Commission of Jurists, but the trial was postponed until June. The prosecution is demanding 15 to 18 year sentences on charges of illicit association.
In April 1975, Martin Ennals cabled the Head of State, General Francisco Franco, appealing for the commutation of the death sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court on José San Julian Jimenez a common law prisoner.
Adoption of individual prisoners remains one of the most important
aspects of Al's work in Spain. Between May 1974 and May 1975 more than 150 new adoption cases were taken up and 121 prisoners for whom Al groups had been working were released.
Switzerland
Hans Schuppli, Amnesty International's third and last adopted conscientious objector in Switzerland, was released in 1974 after 3 months' imprisonment. But Swiss law is unchanged: 545 conscientious objectors were convicted in 1974-75, and AI is investigating new cases.
Turkey
In June 1974, Amnesty International received new reports that political prisoners in Turkey had been ill-treated. The reports related to prisoners held at the Mamak Military Prison in Ankara and allegations were made that some prisoners had suffered serious injuries as a result of being beaten while they were handcuffed. Secretary General Martin Ennals wrote to the then Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, naming the people allegedly responsible for the attacks and appealing for an official investigation.