Torture reports denied
2004-03-18 15:23
Malabo/Johannesburg - Reports that suspected South African mercenary Nick du Toit had been tortured to death in Equatorial Guinea were untrue, a senior government official said on Thursday.
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa told Sapa South Africa had received an assurance to this effect from Equatorial Guinea.
"Their authorities have assured our ambassador there that no South African is dead in detention," Mamoepa said.
The French news agency AFP earlier quoted the Spanish newspaper El Pais as reporting that Du Toit had died on Wednesday after being tortured.
He is the alleged leader of a group of coup plotters arrested in Equatorial Guinea last week.
A man identified as Du Toit appeared on television in the central African country last week. He reportedly said he had led a group of mercenaries there on a mission to abduct President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and force him into exile.
Malaria
Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea government spokesperson Antonio Fernando Nve Ngu said an alleged German mercenary, who was one of the 15 supposed plotters, had died of cerebral malaria.
AFP reported that Gerhard Eugen Nershz was transferred on Tuesday from Malabo's central jail to hospital on the recommendation of the prison doctor.
"He received the appropriate care, but died a few hours later of cerebral malaria with complications," Nve Mgu said in a statement read on state radio.
Apart from Du Toit, the Equatorial Guinean authorities have identified the suspects only by giving a list of nationalities, saying they came from South Africa, Angola, Armenia, Sao Tome and Principe and Germany.