Equatorial Guinea defends executions over 2009 coup News
Equatorial Guinea defends executions over 2009 coup
Photo source or description

[JURIST] Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday defended the execution of four men convicted on Saturday of attempting to assassinate President Teodoro Obiang during a 2009 attack on the presidential palace. Jose Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Anseme, Alipio Ndong Asumu and Jacinto Micha Obiang were executed immediately after being convicted by a military court in Malabo. Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] condemned the execution [press release] on Monday claiming that the four men were detained in Black Beach prison in Malabo where they were tortured into giving false confessions. Denouncing the government’s judicial procedure, AI Africa Director Erwin van der Borght stated:

These men were convicted after an unfair trial, sentenced to death and executed with chilling speed without having the slightest opportunity to appeal their sentence. Equatorial Guinea must put an end to the abductions, torture and executions it currently carries out under the pretense of justice.

The government stands by the conviction [AP report] of the four former government officials, stating that they received a fair and open trial before a military tribunal and were provided with counsel.

In April, an Equatorial Guinea court sentenced seven Nigerians [JURIST report] to 12 years in prison on terrorism charges for their role in the 2009 attack. Security forces stopped the Nigerian gunmen, alleged members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger River Delta (MEND) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], who were supposedly guided to the presidential palace by locals on mobile phones. The court also released four additional Equatorial Guineans, all members of the opposition People’s Union Party, after freeing seven last month for a lack of evidence. Last year, former British military officer with the elite Special Air Service [BBC backgrounder], Simon Mann [BBC profile, JURIST news archive], convicted [JURIST report] in 2008 of involvement in a 2004 coup attempt [BBC backgrounder], was released from prison after being pardoned [JURIST report] by Obiang. Mann was arrested in 2004 after a plane carrying him and approximately 60 mercenaries landed in Zimbabwe.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.