Fair Trials Abroad facing closure

Date: 22/11/01

By Martin Banks

A LEADING civil liberties group that has helped win justice for hundreds of EU citizens faces closure after its grant was axed.

Fair Trials Abroad says it will close unless the Commission reconsiders a decision to withdraw its annual grant from next April.

Last year, the UK-based campaign group received 50,000 euro from the EU executive - more than one third of its annual income. Stephen Jakobi, director of Fair Trials Abroad, has written to nearly 50 MEPs highlighting the group's plight.

Jakobi, who has used his own funds to keep the organisation afloat for several years, also receives funding from several UK charities, but mostly relies on the European grant to meet the group's overheads.

"We are likely to fold without help," he said.

Fair Trials Abroad handles about 100 cases a year and in the past 12 months has been at the forefront of several high-profile civil liberties cases.

A leading civil liberties group that has helped win justice for hundreds of EU citizens faces closure after its grant was axed. Fair Trials Abroad says it will close unless the Commission reconsiders a decision to withdraw its annual grant from April 2002.