Petition for release of Potgieter, Huxham reaches 15 000 signatories
The spokespeople for the families of Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham, who have been detained in Equatorial Guinea for more than two years, over what is believed to be fabricated charges, have confirmed that a petition was signed by 15 000 people demanding their immediate release.
The petition implores the governments of South Africa and the UK to secure the immediate release of the two engineers, of which one also has UK citizenship.
The document will be handed over to International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola, Parliamentary Speaker Thoko Didiza and Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation representative Supra Mahumapelo.
“The overwhelming support for this petition sends a clear message, that South Africans and the international community refuse to accept the continued imprisonment of Potgieter and Huxham.
“With every signature, another joins us in saying enough is enough, these innocent men must be released now,” says spokespeople Shaun Murphy and Francois Nigrini,
Potgieter and Huxham were arrested in Equatorial Guinea on February 9, 2023. On July 1 last year, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a formal opinion on their case, deeming the arrests and ongoing detention both unlawful and arbitrary, and called for their immediate release.
In October last year, South Africa’s Parliament passed a unanimous motion demanding urgent action to secure their release. Despite this, the two men remain imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea.
Potgieter and Huxham are both accomplished and respected professionals and worked in the oil and gas sector in Equatorial Guinea for many years.
The two were arrested soon after South African authorities seized properties and a superyacht belonging to Equatorial Guinea Vice President and the President’s son Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, with the families saying the men's arrest was in retaliation.
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