United Press Interntional/Washington Times, DC
Jan 14 2005

Oskanyan plans to visit Equatorial Guinea

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan plans to visit Equatorial
Guinea in mid-February, seeking the release of six Armenian pilots
convicted on Nov. 26, 2004, on charges of taking part in a failed
coup attempt and espionage. A court in the capital Malabu sentenced
the chief pilot to 24 years in prison and the rest to 14 years each.
Oskanyan said recently that the Equatorial Guinean authorities are
willing to meet with him, and details of the visit are being worked
out. Beginning in Jan. 2004 the pilots flew an AN-12 transporter
registered in Armenia but operating out of Equatorial Guinea under a
contract with a German company. On March 7, the pilots were arrested
in Malabu following the failure of the alleged coup. They denied all
charges, saying they had only begun working in Malabu two months
earlier. South African Nicholas de Toit, accused of masterminding the
coup attempt, received a sentence of 63 years in jail, while three
compatriots received sentences of 50-60 years. Equatorial Guinea
citizens convicted on the same charges received a one-year sentence.
The lawyer for the Armenian pilots has appealed their sentence in the
Supreme Court of Equatorial Guinea.