Trial of ex-PM must be fair, Amnesty International

Rights group Amnesty International (AI) has voiced concern over the soon to be held trial of Madagascar's ex-prime minister Tantely Andrianaivo. The trial, due to begin on 22 December in the capital Antananarivo, may be unfair, AI said. AI said it was concerned that a legal principle, equality of arms, may not be respected. The principle's requirements include the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence, including disclosure by the prosecution of material information. This was essential to a fair hearing, the rights group noted. Adrianaivo's relatives were informed of the trial date on 13 December, but his lawyers have been unable to access his case file at the prosecution authorities' office. "They do not know when they will be able to consult the file, nor if they will be able to photocopy them to study it outside office hours. This is undermining the ability of the defence to adequately prepare for the trial," Amnesty said. Andrianaivo has been detained for more than a year, on seven charges including embezzlement, "endangering the state" and "usurping his function," relating to activities during the 2002 Madagascar political crisis. Former president Didier Ratsiraka was sentenced to five years in prison for his part in the crisis. He was tried in-absentia and IRIN reported on Wednesday that the authorities remained tight-lipped on whether the government would seek to extradite him from France. Ratsiraka, who fled the country in July 2002, did not appear in court at Monday's hearing. With regard to Andrianaivo, AI said that while it recognised the right of every state to try people suspected of criminal offences, it stressed that every person had a right to a fair trial, according to international standards, and to the presumption of innocence. "Everyone in Madagascar, including the government and all the people who have suffered abuses during the 2002 political crisis, would benefit if Tantely Andrianaivo was tried in a fair and transparent way," the rights group said. Andrianaivo is the highest ranking member of the former government to be to be tried in person in a Malagasy court on charges relating to offences during the 2002 political crisis.