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Washington Times, DC
June 7 2005
UPI Terrorism Watch
By John C.K. Daly and Philip Turner
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
According to Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamlet Gasparyan,
Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has
pardoned six members of an Armenian flight crew convicted on Nov. 26
last year of plotting to overthrow his government. President Obiang
issued the pardon on his birthday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry at
the time of the crew's trial said that they were in no way involved
in activities against the authorities. The court in the Guinean
capital Malabo sentenced the crew chief to 24 years in prison; the
other crewmembers received 14-year sentences. The crew had worked in
Equatorial Guinea onboard an Antonov-12 registered in Armenia since
January 2004; they were arrested in Malabo on March 7 on charges of
participating in a coup attempt and engaging in espionage. The pilots
claimed that they were solely involved in delivering cargoes under a
contract with a German company. The six were serving their sentences
in the Black Beach prison in Malabo; two months ago Amnesty
International said their trial was "grossly unfair," and that they
risked starving to death in jail.
June 7 2005
UPI Terrorism Watch
By John C.K. Daly and Philip Turner
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
According to Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamlet Gasparyan,
Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has
pardoned six members of an Armenian flight crew convicted on Nov. 26
last year of plotting to overthrow his government. President Obiang
issued the pardon on his birthday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry at
the time of the crew's trial said that they were in no way involved
in activities against the authorities. The court in the Guinean
capital Malabo sentenced the crew chief to 24 years in prison; the
other crewmembers received 14-year sentences. The crew had worked in
Equatorial Guinea onboard an Antonov-12 registered in Armenia since
January 2004; they were arrested in Malabo on March 7 on charges of
participating in a coup attempt and engaging in espionage. The pilots
claimed that they were solely involved in delivering cargoes under a
contract with a German company. The six were serving their sentences
in the Black Beach prison in Malabo; two months ago Amnesty
International said their trial was "grossly unfair," and that they
risked starving to death in jail.