00:49 – "Total amnesty" for all prisoners and opponents in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema on Wednesday decided "a total amnesty" in favor of all political prisoners and all opponents condemned or banned from activity, according to a decree read on television "I grant total amnesty to all citizens sentenced by the courts (…) for political offenses in the exercise of their activity, serving or not serving their sentence", states the presidential decree, stating that the amnesty also concerns anyone "deprived of their liberty or prevented from exercising their political right in the country". This spectacular measure in a country led by President Obiang with an iron fist since 1979, comes less than two weeks from a "national dialogue" that he himself convened. The presidential decree specifies that this dialogue, announced in June, will be held "from July 16 to 21". The amnesty "must allow wide participation of all political actors" in this dialogue "between the government and the legalized political parties, political actors of the interior and the diaspora, civil society and religious denominations", according to the president. It undertakes to guarantee "freedom" and "security" to all participants in this dialogue, which must also be attended by representatives of the international community as observers. The amnesty was one of the main conditions imposed by the opposition of the interior and the diaspora to take part in this national dialogue. (Belga)

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