Equatorial Guinea: Trial of alleged coup plotters seriously flawed

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News Service No: 308
30 November 2004

Equatorial Guinea: Trial of alleged coup plotters seriously flawed
Eleven foreign nationals and nine Equatorial Guineans were sentenced to lengthy prison terms and hefty fines in Equatorial Guinea after a grossly unfair trial ending on 26 November 2004. They were convicted of (an attempt to commit) crimes against the Head of the State and against the government. The Equatorial Guineans were tried in absentia. The lawyers of the foreign defendants have lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court against the convictions.

Neither the verdict nor the sentences were translated, and the defendants left court with no knowledge of their fate.

An Amnesty International delegation observed the trial from its commencement on 23 August 2004, and, in view of serious procedural flaws and the admission of confessions allegedly extracted under torture, and deemed it to be unfair.

Nineteen people, including five Equatorial Guineans, six Armenians and eight South Africans were charged with crimes against the Head of State; crimes against the government; crimes against the peace and independence of Equatorial Guinea; possession and storage of arms and ammunition; treason; possession of explosives; and terrorism, for which the prosecution had demanded the death penalty for South African Nick du Toit and prison sentences ranging from 26 to 86 years for his co-defendants.
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http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=80256DD400782B8480256F5C00612D18