The China Mail - France, Eq. Guinea to clash at UN top court over Paris mansion

The central African nation has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue emergency orders preventing France from selling the building, seized after Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, known as Teodorin, was convicted of corruption.

French authorities seized the property, which boasts a cinema, a hammam, and marble and gold water taps, after convicting Obiang under a law targeting fortunes fraudulently amassed by foreign leaders.

In 2021, France's top appeals court gave Obiang -- the eldest son of the long-standing president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo -- a three-year suspended sentence and 30 million euros ($35 million) in fines.

France also confiscated assets, including the luxurious building near the Arc de Triomphe, which has an estimated value well above 100 million euros.

In its latest complaint to the ICJ last week, Equatorial Guinea argued French police entered the property last month and changed the locks on several of the doors.

Equatorial Guinea called on the court to order France to give it "immediate, complete and unhindered access" to the building.

Lawyers for Equatorial Guinea will address judges at the Peace Palace in The Hague at around 10:00 am (0800 GMT), before France responds at around 4:00 pm.

- 2016 dispute -

The mansion was also at the centre of an earlier case filed by Equatorial Guinea in 2016 at the ICJ, which rules on disputes between UN member states.

Equatorial Guinea argued the building served as the country's embassy in France and that Paris had broken the Vienna Convention, which safeguards diplomats from interference by host countries.

But the UN court sided with France, which said the building was merely Teodorin Obiang's residence and served no diplomatic purpose.

The ICJ upheld France's objections that Equatorial Guinea had only tried to designate it as such after the investigation into Obiang began, and that the country already had an embassy in Paris.

A request for emergency orders -- provisional measures, in the court's jargon -- takes precedence over all other court business.

The ICJ is currently wrestling with a busy caseload, including a high-profile case brought by South Africa against Israel, alleging its actions in Gaza have breached the UN Genocide Convention.

The court will also deliver a key ruling on countries' climate change obligations next Wednesday.

While the ICJ is the highest United Nations court, whose rulings are binding, it has no way of enforcing its decisions.

For example, it has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine -- to no avail.

A.Zhang--ThChM