Equatorial Guinea: Concerns about the recent trial of political opponents and Nigerian nationals

AFR 24/007/2010 Equatorial Guinea: Concerns about the recent trial of political opponents and Nigerian nationals Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of two members of the opposition party People’s Union (Unión Popular – UP), who remain in prison six weeks after being acquitted of the charges against them, and for the fair retrial of seven Nigerian nationals [...] The organization is further concerned about aspects of the pre-trial detention and the trial itself which violated the right to a fair trial of all the defendants. [...] In particular Amnesty International is concerned that: - the UP members had been arrested without a warrant in contravention of national law; -. neither the Equatorial Guineans nor the Nigerians were promptly informed of the charges against them and were only informed several months after their arrest. [...] They were not brought before a judge within the prescribed 72 hours to have their detention legalised; -. with regard to the Nigerians, they were held incommunicado from the time of their arrest and did not have access to a lawyer until a few days before the trial started and were thus denied the right to present an effective defence. [...] Defence lawyers reported that the Nigerian defendants bore clear marks consistent with torture; - in court, the defendants and their lawyers complained about the torture, including the death in custody of a Nigerian woman, but were stopped by the president of the court who reportedly dismissed the claims as irrelevant to the proceedings; -. no weapons or other evidence was presented in court to su