The Paris Court of Appeal sentenced Teodorin Obiang, vice-president of Equatorial Guinea, to a three-year suspended prison sentence and a 30 million euro fine on Monday for fraudulently building up a considerable heritage in France.
Justice thus weighs down the conviction pronounced at first instance. On October 27, 2017, at the end of the first so-called "ill-gotten trial" before the French justice system, the Paris Criminal Court had pronounced the same prison sentence but had suspended the fine of 30 million euros.
His lawyers challenge the legitimacy of French justice
The magistrates also confirmed the confiscation of all the seized property, including a sumptuous mansion avenue Foch in Paris, which however remains suspended from a decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
A former minister promoted to vice president, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's son did not appear at his appeal trial, nor did he appear at the first trial three years ago. His lawyers have repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of French justice.
Teodorin Obiang, 50, was convicted of laundering the misuse of corporate property, laundering embezzlement of public funds, laundering breach of trust. Unlike the first trial, however, he was acquitted of the offense of money laundering and corruption. The amounts laundered in France are estimated at 150 million euros.
Hearings scheduled for February
During the appeal trial in December, the public prosecutor's office had requested against him four years of imprisonment with an arrest warrant, a fine of 30 million euros and the confiscation of the seized property.
The investigation, opened after complaints from the Sherpa and Transparency International associations, had revealed the extent of the heritage that Teodorin Obiang has in France: works of art, luxury cars, or this 101-room mansion with hammam and nightclub, decorated with marble and fitted with taps covered with gold ... A lifestyle far removed from the daily life of its small oil country in the Gulf of Guinea where more than half of the inhabitants live below the poverty line.
Directed since 1979 by Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who holds the record for longevity in power in Africa, Equatorial Guinea challenges before the ICJ the searches in the mansion on Avenue Foch, presented by Malabo as diplomatic premises.
Pending the outcome of this procedure, the mansion cannot be seized. A series of hearings between Malabo and Paris is scheduled for The Hague next week, from February 17 to 21.
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Justice
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