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The judge agrees to allow Obiang's son to testify by videoconference on March 28 for alleged torture of opponents

The Police points out "a notable lack of information and commitment to collaborate" on the part of Equatorial Guinea.

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The judge agrees to allow Obiang's son to testify by videoconference on March 28 for alleged torture of opponents

The Police points out "a notable lack of information and commitment to collaborate" on the part of Equatorial Guinea

MADRID, 9 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National Court Santiago Pedraz has agreed to take a statement by videoconference on March 28 from Carmelo Ovono Obiang, son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, in the framework of the investigation into alleged torture of opponents, including Spanish citizens , a decision that the prosecution has already appealed.

The head of the Central Investigating Court Number 5 had summoned Carmelo Ovono Obiang and other investigated persons, Nicolás Obama Nchama and Issac Nguema Ondo, to take their statement in person for that same day, but the defense of the son of the Equatoguinean president requested that this procedure be aired by videoconference, considering that it was disproportionate for them to make him travel to Spain, given his government responsibilities, also advancing that he would remain silent.

In an order last Tuesday, to which Europa Press has had access, Pedraz authorizes Obiang's son to give a statement by videoconference, something that the families of the alleged victims and the Movement for the Liberation of Equatorial Guinea, which exercises popular accusation.

The accusations allege that the request of the defenses was untimely because Pedraz's initial decision became final before Obiang and the others appealed, as well as that the "general rule" is the witness statement and that, in this case, the use of "a private link for those investigated to connect from their home or undetermined location, which violates the essential rules of legal cooperation and international criminal assistance."

Regarding the latter, they indicate that an International Letter Rogatory (CRI) should be filed, although they already warn that it "would not find a legal basis for the practice of the statement of an investigated person, since there is no bilateral or multilateral treaty to that effect between the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea".

"And the authorization cannot be found in international reciprocity, since Equatorial Guinea has denied any judicial cooperation in the framework of this case, including the latest orders of this court to prove the health and location of the victims through the MAEC or the repatriation of the body of Julio Obama Mefuman for the practice of proceedings".

The complaint that gave rise to the case, admitted last October and extended a month later, focuses on the alleged kidnapping and subsequent torture suffered by four members of the opposition movement: the residents of Spain Martín Obiang and Bienvenido Ndong; and the Spanish nationals Feliciano Efa and Julio Obama Mefuman, who died in the Oveng Azem prison (Mongomo) for these alleged tortures.

Last January, the judge asked to repatriate the body of the deceased opponent and locate the other alleged victims to also determine their state of health.

However, the General Information Commissioner, in a document to which this news agency has had access, reports to the National Court that, as detailed by the Director General of Foreign Affairs Xavier Martí, "despite the multiple efforts carried out at the highest level by Spanish diplomacy, there is a notable lack of information and commitment to collaborate on the part of the Guinean authorities".

Thus, it states that "Spanish diplomacy requested on January 20 the 'making available of the mortal remains' of Julio Obama, a request reiterated even by the Spanish minister, José Manuel Albares, on February 16," despite what which "to date the Guinean authorities have not responded".

"Regarding the steps taken to find out the state of health and whereabouts of Feliciano Efa Mangue, it does not seem that the Guinean authorities have satisfied the Spanish requests either," says the Police, specifying that "the latest updates date back to March 2022 and December 2022".

The security body adds that "the Guinean authorities have not responded to the Spanish request regarding the accused Martin Obiang Ondo and Bienvenido Ndong as victims."

In his letter to the General Information Commissioner, the general director specifies about Efa that "it was visited by the Spanish ambassador on March 9, 2022, without any other visit having been authorized since then."

"After the visit, medical treatment was requested for the ailments he suffered," as well as "the isolation regime in which he was found to be relaxed," he says.

Martí recounts that, "in the conversation that the Consul General of Spain in Bata had with Obama in the hospital on December 23, 2022, he told her that the solitary confinement of both had eased and that they maintained contact with other inmates in The prison's courtyard".