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Free at last...Bryant comes home after royal pardon
Page 6
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• by Micky Taylor and Sally Nash Steve Bryant, the British truck driver jailed in Morocco nine years ago, was released last week after a royal pardon by the King of Morocco.
Bryant, originally from Waltham Cross, has maintained his innocence since his arrest in Tangiers in 1993. Customs found cannabis resin hidden amongst a load of squid and Bryant was given a 10-year prison sentence in Rabat.
The 48-year-old father of four undertook two hunger strikes in a bid to obtain his release but to no avail. To add a bitter twist to the sentence both his parents passed away during his jail term.
It is believed King Mohammed VI's order to release 9,500 people from Morocco's jails is to celebrate the birth of his son Hassan. Other Britons released under the pardon arrived at Heathrow at the weekend. Bryant made his own way home.
Stephen Jakob', director of pressure group Fair Trials Abroad, says Bryant "is the oldest case we have in FTA. We've been battling for him for something like eight years. I've flown to Morocco twice over the years to plead with top officials for an examination of his case. There's no evidence he was guilty of anything--it's a typical truck driver's case."
Meanwhile the FTA is highlighting the problems of international truck drivers at its fourth "British Victims' Day".
The group will be focusing on six specific cases at the forum today (15 May) all involving truck drivers who are believed to have been victims of miscarriages of justice. They are John Vasey, David Wilson, Terence O'Connor. David Stevenson, Steward Guy and Patrick Kennedy All the drivers are being held in French prisons apart from Wilson who is captive in Greece.
Jakobi says the cases have been chosen because he is satisfied that the domestic courts have ignored the presumption of innocence and that the charges of smuggling are unfounded.
He is now calling on the public to write to Fair Trials Abroad on behalf of the six truck drivers and the letters will be forwarded to the relevant embassies.
And he is also now trying to persuade the European Parliament to 'take the problem on board".
He believes that the risks international truck drivers face are only now beginning to receive attention "after 10 years of trying to get a campaign together".
FA deputy director Sarah de Mas is to visit France to discuss the situation with the relevant authorities—both from a political and practical perspective.