The European Parliament will address the “arbitrary detention” of two Spanish businessmen in Equatorial Guinea this week

Eduardo González The European Parliament will address this week the "arbitrary detention" of Javier Marañón Montero and David Rodríguez Ballesta, two Spanish businessmen imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea on charges of bribery and fraud. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported that three Spanish citizens are currently imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea, but has not specified the charges they face or the status of their legal proceedings, simply stating that it is maintaining "close monitoring" of the cases in order to "provide the appropriate consular assistance, as well as keeping the families of the detainees informed." Marañón Montero (who even went on hunger strike last summer) and David Rodríguez are currently incarcerated in Black Beach Prison (denounced in numerous international reports for its poor conditions and human rights violations) as part of an investigation opened by the Attorney General's Office into the alleged payment of illegal kickbacks to secure a public contract, the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) project. According to opposition sources, Francisca Obiang Jiménez, daughter of President Teodoro Obiang, may be implicated in this illegal kickback network involving Spanish businessmen, high-ranking regime officials, and several front companies. Last April, after Guinean authorities installed hidden microphones in one of the prison's visiting rooms to spy on conversations between the two prisoners and Spanish diplomats, the Attorney General, Anatolio Nzang Nguema, called a press conference to demand that the Spanish Embassy in Malabo "respect judicial independence." For his part, the Vice President of the Republic and head of the security apparatus (and Obiang's eldest son), Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, ordered the total isolation of both businessmen and prohibited them from receiving any type of visit, not even from their lawyers or family members. Since then, Javier Marañón's situation has become untenable. The European Parliament will debate a resolution on the human rights situation in Equatorial Guinea this coming Wednesday, September 9, on the "arbitrary detentions of several Spanish citizens." MEPs will specifically address the cases of Javier Marañón Montero and David Rodríguez Ballesta. The resolution will be voted on Friday. On June 12, the People's Party (Popular Party) Parliamentary Group registered a written parliamentary question on "how many Spaniards are detained in Equatorial Guinea's prisons, what crimes they are accused of, whether they have been tried, and what consular assistance has been provided to them." Likewise, the PP asked whether the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has called his Equatorial Guinean counterpart, Simeón Oyono Esono Angue, "inquiring about the detainees in Equatorial Guinean prisons" and demanding "some kind of explanation from the Equatorial Guinean ambassador to Spain," Miguel Edjang Angue. In its response, registered on September 15 and published this Monday in the Official Gazette of the Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that, "at this time, there is evidence of the presence of three Spanish citizens detained in Equatorial Guinea." "In compliance with the provisions established by Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5, on the Protection of Personal Data and the Guarantee of Digital Rights, the disclosure of information regarding the charges they face or the status of their legal proceedings is not possible," it continues. "In any case, both the Spanish Embassy in Malabo and the central services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation are closely monitoring the aforementioned cases in order to provide the appropriate consular assistance and keep the families of the detainees informed," the government's response concludes.

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