Opposition confirms release of detainees

Equatorial Guinea's main opposition party said 34 of its members were freed from prison last week, but that many of them had been tortured. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema last month pardoned 81 prisoners, including several political opponents jailed for sedition. Those released include Jesus Mitogo, the sole parliamentary deputy of the opposition Citizens for Innovation (CI) party which was dissolved in February. ‘We are happy that our comrades have been released although many of them bear the scars of torture,’ the CI's president Gabriel Nse Obiang reportedly told AFP. A report on the News24 site notes that he said two detainees, Evaristo Oyaga Sima and Juan Obama Edu, died in jail in May and August respectively while another of the released prisoners, Pergentino Miguel Edu, had a broken arm for nine months. The authorities have denied the claims.

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