§ 59. Mr. John Townendasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any further information as to when the officers of the Zimbabwean air force, in respect of which Her Majesty's Government have made representations to the Government of Zimbabwe, will be brought to trial.
§ Mr. OnslowAs the detained air force officers are all Zimbabwean citizens, Her Majesty's Government are not able to make formal representations to the Zimbabwe Government on their behalf. However, I draw my hon. Friend's attention to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice (Sir P. Wall) on 19 January—[Vol. 35, c.151]—when I explained that, during my recent visit to Zimbabwe I again expressed the concern of Her Majesty's Government that the detained Zimbabwe air force officers should be brought to trial soon and that I was given assurances that the Zimbabwe Government took the same view.