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Two South African engineers returned home after spending more than two years in prison in Equatorial Guinea for what the UN called “arbitrary and illegal” drug fees.
Frick Potgeter and Peter Husum, both in the mid-1950s, were arrested in February 2023 after drugs were found in their luggage.
They were sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $ 5 million (4 million pounds), but received a pardon of the president after a long campaign from their families and the South African government.
Their arrest came days after luxury assets belonging to the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, Theodoro Ngumea Obiang were seized in South Africa.
Yacht and two villas from Cape Town belonging to Obiang, who is also the son of the President of Equatorial Guinea, were detained in the performance of JudgmentS
“We have been buried with relief and joy. The last two years and four months have been unimaginably painful for both our families,” a statement published by the families of the two men said.
They worked for the Dutch oil and gas company SBM in Equatorial Guinea when they arrested the night before returning home after a five -week stay in the country.
The families had summoned to help the government of South Africa as well as to the United Kingdom government, as H -H Huxham has dual citizenship.
“South Africa expresses his sincere gratitude to the Government of Equatorial Guinea for consideration and ultimately to provide this president to a pardon, allowing d -husum and d -n -Potgeter to return home to their loved ones,” said Publication of X by South African Foreign Minister Ronald LamolaS
The UN Working Group for arbitrary detention called the couple’s release last year, saying their detention was illegal.
Their families say that the couple was arrested by revenge for the seizure of the assets belonging to the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea.
BBC contacted equatorial Guinea for comment.
A South African official told the BBC that the courts would decide the fate of the yacht and the villas and the government could not intervene.