HC Deb 20 April 1988 vol 131 c460W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made by his Department to the Government of Zimbabwe about the imprisonment without trail of Mr. Jack Lewis-Walker, about whom the hon. Member for Macclesfield has written to him; and on what date he expects to be able to announce that Mr. Lewis-Walker has been released.

Mr. Eggar

I have not yet received any letter from my hon. Friend on this subject, although I received letters from other hon. Members with constituency interests.

The British high commission at Harare is in touch with the authorities in Zimbabwe and has been granted consular access to Mr. Lewis-Walker, who is detained under the emergency powers regulations.

We cannot speculate when Mr. Lewis-Walker may be released. This is a matter for the Zimbabwe authorities. The British high commission has made formal representations to try to secure his release on the basis that this has been recommended by the review tribunal.