South African Engineers Freed After Equatorial Guinea Pardon

South African engineers Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham were arrested in February 2023 and sentenced to 12 years in prison with substantial fines in Equatorial Guinea on drug charges condemned as arbitrary and illegal by the United Nations. Their detention followed the seizure of luxury assets belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s vice-president in South Africa. The engineers' families and multiple advocacy groups, including the South African and UK governments and a UN Working Group, campaigned for their release, citing lack of credible evidence. After more than two years, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo granted them a presidential pardon. Their families have expressed immense relief and requested privacy as the men recover. The case has raised broader concerns about human rights and political retaliation in international legal disputes.