On November 17th, President Jose-Maria Gil Robles welcomed the release from prison of Wei Jingsheng, the Chinese dissident who was last year's winner of the European Parliament's Sakharov prize for freedom of thought.
He reminded MEPs that there were still many prisoners of conscience in China. He later informed MEPs that he would try to ensure that Mr Wei Jingsheng could be awarded his prize in person at a suitable ceremony.