UN court rules in favor of France in Equatorial Guinea mansion dispute

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the the United Nations’ top court sided with France on Friday in a long-running legal tug-of-war with Equatorial Guinea over the sale of a mansion on one of Paris’ poshest avenues.

The African country filed a case at the International Court of Justice in 2022, alleging France is violating international law by refusing to return assets seized during a corruption investigation into Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, a vice president of Equatorial Guinea and the son of long-serving President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Equatorial Guinea asked the court for a series of urgent orders, known as provisional measures, to return the swanky mansion on one of Paris’s most prestigious streets, Avenue Foch, and to prevent France from selling the building. France confiscated the building in 2021 as part of the corruption investigation.

Presiding judge Yuji Iwasawa said Equatorial Guinea “has not demonstrated” that it has a “plausible right to the return of the building.”

Lawyers for France strongly rejected the need for provisional measures, telling judges no sale was imminent and the dispute should be resolved via negotiation. The request “constitutes yet another abusive maneuver” by Equatorial Guinea, France’s agent, Diégo Colas, told the court during a hearing in July.

Carmelo Nvono-Ncá, Equatorial Guinea’s agent, told judges that France’s approach “may be described as paternalistic and even neo-colonial” and his country couldn’t “accept such disdain for our sovereignty.”

In 2020, the international court ruled that the building was a private residence, not a diplomatic outpost, rejecting an earlier claim from Equatorial Guinea that the seizure violated international law.

Obiang was convicted in 2017, and given a three-year suspended sentence for embezzling millions of dollars in public money. French authorities seized money, luxury vehicles and the building, which boasts a cinema, night club and a hammam, which is a Turkish steam bath.

The 57-year-old has faced scrutiny for corruption in other countries as well. In 2021, he was sanctioned by the United Kingdom for misappropriating public funds, including spending $275,000 on the bejeweled glove that Michael Jackson wore on his “Bad” tour. Switzerland and Brazil have also opened investigations into his finances.

Equatorial Guinea returned to The Hague in 2022, arguing the French government was obliged to return the assets based on a U.N. anti-corruption convention.

Despite its oil and gas riches, Equatorial Guinea has a dramatic gap between its privileged ruling class and much of the impoverished population. The former Spanish colony is run by Africa’s longest-serving president, Obiang’s father.