The Equatorial Guinea prosecutor has reportedly requested the capital punishment for 147 main opposition activists.
Did Equatorial Guinea request death penalty for opposition activists?
AFP reports that the trial of the activists started early last week in the high court of Mongomo, the stronghold of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The prosecutor’s death penalty request was tabled on Wednesday (February 14th).
The activists were being tried for: “sedition, attack on authority and public disorder,“ according to their lawyer. “The prosecutor has demanded the death penalty against all opponents,“ lawyer Fabian Nsue told the AFP.
The government which claim to have foiled an attempted coup in late December 2017, have yet to respond to a request for information.
The 147 activists, include leaders of the Citizens for Innovation (CI) party, who have been rounded up since the parliamentary elections of November 2017.
According to a statement from their party, some 30 defendants could not stand during the trial, “because of torture“ during their detention in Guantanamo, the nickname given to the central police station of the capital, Malabo.