Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) (AFP), Jul 26 – The central African condition of Equatorial Guinea announced Monday it was closing its embassy in London right after Britain imposed sanctions versus the son of its veteran president around corruption allegations.
“The very first determination that the government has taken is the overall closure of our diplomatic mission in London,” Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono instructed condition broadcaster TVGE.
He gave no specifics as to when the choice would consider outcome.
“We do not accept interference in our country’s domestic affairs,” he explained, describing the sanctions as “breaching the theory of global law”.
On Thursday, Britain slapped sanctions on Teodorin Nguema Obiang, Equatorial Guinea’s vice president and son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, for allegedly syphoning condition property into his personal lender accounts.
The British Foreign Business reported the youthful Obiang had made corrupt contracting arrangements and solicited bribes to assist his jet-environment lifestyle.
It alleged he had splurged $500 million (425 million euros) on mansions close to the world, luxury cars and a selection of Michael Jackson memorabilia like a $275,000 crystal-covered glove that the singer wore on his 1987-89 “Bad” tour.
Equatorial Guinea © AFP / AFP
The only Spanish-speaking place in sub-Saharan Africa, Equatorial Guinea is a single of the most enclosed nations in the continent, and several of its persons are living in deep poverty despite oil wealth.
Its ruler Obiang, 79, is the world’s longest-serving sitting president and is usually accused by rights groups of abuses.
In 1979, he ousted his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema, who had ruled the state given that independence from Spain in 1968, and experienced him shot by firing squad.
– Heir-evident –
His son Teodorin, 53, is vice president with obligation for defence and protection and has lengthy been viewed as as his likely successor.
Teodorin Obiang is just one of five foreigners who have been specific very last Thursday in the 2nd wave of a British crackdown on corruption.
The sanctions entail the freezing of property and a bar on entry to the United Kingdom.
Equatorial Guinea on Saturday lashed the sanctions as “unilateral and illegal”.
In 2019, Switzerland auctioned off autos that experienced been seized from Teodorin Obiang, such as a Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 coupe and Aston Martin A person-77 coupe © AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI
“The baseless sanctions imposed by the British authorities find their justification in manipulation, in lies… that selected non-governmental organisations are fomenting against the superior impression of Equatorial Guinea,” it said.
The younger Obiang “has not built any financial commitment in the United Kingdom”, the federal government included.
The junior Obiang is previously entangled in a dispute with France more than a 107-million-euro mansion on Paris’s swanky Avenue Foch that was seized alongside with a fleet of luxurious autos in a corruption probe.
In February 2020, a French courtroom handed him a 3-year suspended sentence, a 30-million-euro good and confiscation of his assets in France.
A remaining ruling by the Court docket of Cassation, the paramount tribunal in France’s judicial program, is anticipated on Wednesday.
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