Detention of SA engineers in Equatorial Guinea ‘illegal’

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued a formal opinion declaring the detention of two SA engineers in Equatorial Guinea as arbitrary and illegal and is calling for their immediate release, TimesLIVE reports. Frederik Potgieter (54) and Peter Huxham (55) were arrested in February 2023 at a hotel in the capital, Malabo, shortly before they were due to return to SA. They had been working on offshore oil and gas platforms for the Dutch firm SBM Production Contractors. They were accused of drug possession, and each sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment and jointly ordered to pay $10m in fines. Their arrests coincided with the attachment of a super yacht linked to Equatorial Guinea’s Vice-President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang in SA. He has also been fighting for the return of two Cape Town properties attached by the Western Cape High Court several years ago. A spokesperson for the Huxham and Potgieter families welcomed the declaration.

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