E.Guinea launches ICJ case against France over Paris mansion
The west African nation asked the International Court of Justice to issue emergency orders against France over a building seized after the conviction of Vice President Teodorin Obiang for corruption.
It asked the court to order France not to sell the mansion, located on the upscale Avenue Foch near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which the two countries have been squabbling over for several years.
French authorities seized the property, which boasts a cinema, hammam and marble and gold water taps, after convicting Obiang under a law targeting fortunes fraudulently amassed by foreign leaders.
In 2021, France's top appeals court gave Obiang -- the eldest son of the long-standing president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang -- a three-year suspended sentence and 30 million euros in fines.
France also confiscated assets, including the luxurious Avenue Foch building with an estimated value well above 100 million euros.
In its latest complaint to the ICJ, dated July 3 but published by the court on Friday, Equatorial Guinea says French police entered the property last month and changed the locks on several of the doors.
Equatorial Guinea called on the court to order France to give it "immediate, complete and unhindered access" to the building.
- Embassy or residence? -
The mansion was also at the centre of an earlier case filed by Equatorial Guinea in 2016 at the ICJ, which rules on disputes between UN member states.
Equatorial Guinea argued the building served as the country's embassy in France and that France had broken the Vienna Convention, which safeguards diplomats from interference by host countries.
But the UN court sided with France, which said the building was merely Teodorin Obiang's residence and served no diplomatic purpose.
The ICJ upheld France's objections that Equatorial Guinea had only tried to designate it as such after the investigation began into Obiang, and that the country already had an embassy in Paris.
A request for emergency orders -- provisional measures, in the court's jargon -- takes precedence over all other court business.
The ICJ is currently wrestling with a busy caseload, including a high-profile case brought by South Africa against Israel alleging breaches of the UN Genocide Convention in Gaza.
It is also expected to deliver a key ruling on countries' climate change obligations within months.
While the ICJ is the top United Nations court, whose rulings are binding, it has no way of enforcing its decisions.
For example, it has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine -- to no avail.
ric/srg/jhb
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
More than 500 people crossed Channel on Friday
More than 500 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on Friday, as small boat crossings reached record levels. Overall, 517 people arrived in eight boats on Friday, taking the annual total to 21,117, an increase of 56% on the same point last year, according to analysis by the PA news agency. On Tuesday, the tally passed 20,000, the earliest point in the calendar year the figure has been reached since data was first collected in 2018, as ministers struggle with their pledge to 'smash the gangs' of people-smugglers who facilitate the journeys. It comes after reports on Friday that French police officers had used knives to puncture a boat off the French coast. The Government has repeatedly pushed for French authorities to do more to prevent boats leaving the shore, including changing existing rules to allow police officers to intervene when dinghies are in the water. Those changes have not yet come into effect, but reports on Friday suggested tougher action was already being taken. Meanwhile, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced a 'crackdown' on immigration enforcement targeting illegal working in the gig economy. Officers will carry out checks in hotspots across the country where they suspect asylum seekers are working as delivery riders without permission. It comes after Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat said they would ramp up facial verification and fraud checks over the coming months after conversations with ministers. Ms Cooper said: 'Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages. The British public will not stand for it, and neither will this Government. 'Often those travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by the people-smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in this country, when in reality they end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours. 'We are surging enforcement action against this pull factor, on top of returning 30,000 people with no right to be here and tightening the law through our plan for change.'
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Pope Leo XIV signals continuity on fighting abuse with new head of child protection board
ROME — Pope Leo XIV signaled commitment to continuing the fight against clergy sexual abuse by appointing France's Bishop Thibault Verny to head the Vatican's child protection advisory commission on Saturday. Verny, 59, replaces American Cardinal Sean O'Malley , the retired archbishop of Boston. O'Malley was the founding president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an advisory group Pope Francis established in 2014 to advise the church on best practices to fight abuse and protect children.
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV signals continuity on fighting abuse with new head of child protection board
ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV signaled commitment to continuing the fight against clergy sexual abuse by appointing France's Bishop Thibault Verny to head the Vatican's child protection advisory commission on Saturday. Verny, 59, replaces American Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the retired archbishop of Boston. O'Malley was the founding president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an advisory group Pope Francis established in 2014 to advise the church on best practices to fight abuse and protect children. As the abuse scandal spread globally during Francis' 12-year pontificate, the commission initially lost influence and its crowning recommendation — the creation of a tribunal to judge bishops who covered up for predator priests — went nowhere. After many years of reform and new members, it has become a place where victims can go to be heard and bishops can get advice on crafting guidelines to fight abuse. Verny, who is currently the bishop of Chambery, France, has been a member of the commission since 2022 and heads the child protection council of the bishops conference in France, where the church has been rocked by revelations of decades and abuse by priests and bishops. He was among commission members who met with Leo last month. The bishop has been responsible for doing an annual audit of the French church's centers for receiving victims, an initiative that was started after a devastating 2021 report into the French scandal estimated 330,000 children in France had been sexually abused over the past 70 years by church personnel. Cardinal O'Malley praised the appointment, saying Verny has developed in-depth experience helping victims and working with law enforcement and civil authorities to ensure accountability 'for the serious failures of the church in France.' In a statement, O'Malley also praised Leo for continuing to consider the commission a priority. 'The Holy Father's words and deeds in these early months of his pontificate assure the world that the Church will not grow complacent in her efforts to as best possible ensure the protection of children, vulnerable adults and all people in our communities,' he said. Verny, for his part, praised O'Malley's leadership as courageous and having served as 'a moral compass' for the church, a reference to O'Malley's occasional statements of outrage when even Francis bungled an abuse case. 'I am committed, together with the members and personnel, to building on that legacy,' Verny said in a statement. The American-born pope made the appointment the day before heading for a six-week vacation at the papal summer retreat south of Rome. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
