British aid agency demands that Angola drop charges against activist

Published: 2007-03-02

LONDON (CNS) -- A British Catholic aid agency has demanded that charges are dropped against a British activist who was arrested in Angola. Sarah Wykes, who works for the nongovernmental organization Global Witness, was taken from her hotel Feb. 18 by armed police in the oil-rich province of Cabinda and imprisoned amid accusations of espionage. She was released on bail three days later but never was given details of the charges, and is forbidden to leave the country. The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, or CAFOD, called on "the Angolan government to drop all charges against" Wykes "immediately and unconditionally and to allow her to leave Angola at once." In a Feb. 28 statement, CAFOD said that "the safety of those who speak out on issues of transparency and corruption is a growing concern for CAFOD." CAFOD, the overseas aid agency of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, is part of the Publish What You Pay international anti-corruption campaign, which is among the many international organizations demanding that charges against Wykes are dropped.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .