EQUATORIAL GUINEA. JAIL TERMS FOR 23 ARMY COUP PLOTTERS

twenty-three Equatorial Guinea military officers and soldiers were handed jail terms after being convicted of treason and other crimes linked to a failed coup against hardline President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in October 2004. A total of 44 other defendants were acquitted following closed-door trials here.
A judicial source said that prosecutors had sought the death penalty against six of the accused, included the alleged coup mastermind, former army paymaster general Cipriano Nguema Mba who fled the country in November 2003 following the discovery of an earlier coup plot. Six of those convicted on charges of treason and threatening the security of the state received 30-year jail terms, including Mba who was tried in absentia. The others included; lieutenant colonel Francisco Mba Mendama, former military commander in the east-central region of Mongomo, fellow ex-liuetenant colonel Florencio Ela Bibang, formerly deputy inspector general of the armed forces and two regular soldiers, Felipe Esono Ndumu, alias "Pancho" and Fernando Nve Ndong. The sixth man to be jailed for 30 years was identified only by his surname "Boyto".