FOUR EXECUTED OVER E.GUINEA ATTACK: AMNESTY

August 21, 2010: four military and government officials in Equatorial Guinea were executed for their role in a 2009 attack on the presidential palace, Amnesty International said.
Jose Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Anseme, Alipio Ndong Asumu and Jacinto Micha Obiang were sentenced to death and executed on the same day.
Amnesty International condemned the execution of the four men, all convicted of attempting to assassinate President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in 2009.
The former military officers were secretly detained in Black Beach prison in Malabo, where they reportedly "confessed" to the attack on the presidential palace on February 17, 2009, said Amnesty.
Amnesty received reports that the men had been tortured in detention, forcing them to "confess" to taking part in the alleged attack.
"These men were convicted after an unfair trial and were not given the chance to appeal," said Erwin van der Borght, Africa director at Amnesty International. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 23/08/2010)