An human right activist and government critic in Equatorial Guinea, Anacleto Micha Nlang, has cried out after being detained without trial for 18 days after he was arrested for criticising President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
According to a press release by the rights group Nlang co-founded, ‘Guinea is also ours’, he was arrested on September 25 alongside his wife and lawyer after returning from the offices of the Citizens for Innovation (CI) party.
The group which was banned last year by the government, said its co-founder was accused of criticising the President as well as assisting opposition activists.
The group, however, denied that Nlang had rendered support to opposition figures but rather blamed his arrest on attempts by the government to clamp down on dissenting voices.
Part of the group statement said Nlang had “had only delivered food to families under siege at the offices, among whom were women and children, his wife Montserrat Mikue and lawyer Evaristo Nguema,” at the time security forces stormed the office and arrested them.
But state-run media in the Spanish-speaking African country has justified the crackdown on opposition figures as a bid by the government “to counter a foiled plot to carry out attacks on embassies, petrol stations and the homes of ministers,” it said in a nationwide broadcast.
Equitorial Guinea is one of the most authoritarian countries in the world with President Teodoro Mbasogo being in power for over four decades.
After ruling Equitorial Guinea with an iron fist for 43 years, the 80-year-old President Mbasogo, last week, announced he would be seeking a sixth term in office in the forthcoming presidential elections scheduled for November.
Obiang who is one of the longest ruling presidents in the world, has run a dictatorial regime where little or no opposition is allowed while his son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, is the vice president.