- A political trial against more than hundred Equatoguinean opposition members in Bata has resulted in prison terms of 6 to 30 years for the accused. Only twenty of the accused, who included both army personnel and opposition civilians, were found to be innocent of plotting to coup, the Bata court found.
Sentences in the high court of Bata - capital of Equatorial Guinea's continental region Río Muni - were handed down already on Friday but only made public late last night. More than hundred army officers and opposition members had been accused of conspiring to stage a coup against Equatoguinean dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
Out of the more than hundred accused, a little more than twenty were left to leave the Bata court in liberty, acquitted of all charges. The remaining 80 accused were sentenced to prison terms of between 6 and 30 years, according to sources in Equatorial Guinea.
The Madrid-based Association of Democratic Solidarity with Equatorial Guinea (Asodegue), which is in constant dialogue with the Equatoguinean opposition, has received confirmation of the sentences from sources observing the trial.
While most of the accused found guilty received prison sentences of six to ten year, lieutenant-colonel Cipriano Nguema Mba was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment an a franc CFA 1 billion fine by the Bata court. Mr Nguema, who has fled to Cameroon, was named as the chief organiser of the assumed coup plotting - accusation regularly placed against the Equatoguinean opposition.
Other supposed chief plotters included Marcelino Mba Owono - currently exiled in Spain and brother of an exiled Equatoguinean opposition party leader - Germán Pedro Tomo - parliament member for the ruling PDGE party and exiled in Spain - and finally a man named "Berni", also exiled in the ex-colonial power, Spain. All three received 20 years imprisonment sentences.
According to Asoduegue, most of the high ranking army officers accused of plotting were among the acquitted in Friday's sentence. This included the commander of the Río Muni armed troops, Florencio Elá Ibang, the highest ranking officer accused.
The Bata court hearings have taken place at closed doors and in secrecy at the city's Justice Palace and lasted for around one week. The largest groups of the accused coup plotters belonged to Equatorial Guinea's armed forces. The more than one hundred accused, according to Asodegue's informants, were led to the Bata court in three overfilled vehicles each day.
According to observations by the same sources, the court hearing had occurred in an abnormal speed and in an "atmosphere of total confusion." Many of the accused were only let to present testimonies in their defence during two-three minutes. They were not left with exact information on the case and accusations against them, Asodegue was told.
Cases of alleged coup plots featuring opposition leaders or military personnel regularly are presented at Equatoguinean courts, in particular in the run-up to elections. Legislative and municipal polls are to be held in Equatorial Guinea in April.
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