July 17, 2004 - 19:46 AMT
EQUATORIAL GUINEA AUTHORITIES PROMISE UNBIASED AND FAIR INVESTIGATION OF CASE OF ARRESTED ARMENIAN PILOTS
The case of the Armenian pilots, arrested in Equatorial Guinea on indictment of complicity to an attempt of a coup d'etat, will be given an unbiased consideration and the verdict will be fair. It was stated by the country senior officials in the course of meetings with members of the Armenian delegation, who were in the country capital of Malabo June 30-July 13 to negotiate on the further fate of the prisoners. As reported by the Press Service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Armenian Ambassador to Egypt Sergey Manasarian and Deputy Chief of the State Protocol Service of Armenia Gevorg Petrosian specifically met with Ministers of Justice and Health, Prosecutor General and State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Equatorial Guinea. The delegation also visited the Armenian pilots. According to the source, resulting from the talks the conditions they are kept in were improved and the necessary medicines were passed to them. A telephone conversation between the pilots and their relatives in Yerevan was also arranged. It should be reminded that exploiting An-12 plane registered in Armenia, six officers of the Civil Aviation Department of Armenia have been working in Equatorial Guinea on contract with CAL German company since January 2004.