Equatorial Guinea takes France to UN court over case against Nguema's son

Equatorial Guinea is seeking to block efforts by France to prosecute the president’s son who is accused of money laundering.

The Central African nation has appealed to the United Nations’ highest court, International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Equatorial Guinea wants France to pay unspecified damages for what they term as “prejudice” it has suffered.

Equatorial Guinea begin legal proceeding against France ICJ
Say Son of Pres Nguema(2nd VP) has diplomatic immunity pic.twitter.com/oVqB2dW2sr

— Samira Sawlani (samirasawlani) June 15, 2016

In May, French prosecutors requested that Teodorin Obiang, the son of President Obiang Nguema, be put on trial for plundering state coffers for personal gain.

Equatorial Guinea wants the UN court to find that France has violated its sovereignty and international law and to drop proceedings against Obiang.

Obiang is second vice president of the small central African state, where a majority of the population lives in poverty despite rich oil reserves.

In 2009, a French judge announced he would launch a landmark investigation into African leaders who plundered state coffers to buy luxury homes and cars in France. The case became known as “ill-gotten gains”.