Equatorial Guinea announced Monday that it would close its embassy in London after the United Kingdom slapped penalties against the son of the country’s veteran president over corruption charges.
“The government’s first decision is to close our diplomatic mission in London completely,” Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono said state broadcaster TVGE.
He didn’t say when the ruling will go into effect.
“We do not accept intervention in our country’s internal affairs,” he said, calling the penalties a “breach of international law norm.”
Britain imposed penalties on Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the vice president of Equatorial Guinea and the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, on Thursday for allegedly syphoning public assets in the United Kingdom.
The British Foreign Office said that the younger Obiang had conducted shady contractual deals and sought bribes to fund his lavish lifestyle.
It said he spent $500 million (425 million euros) on houses throughout the world, luxury cars, and Michael Jackson memorabilia, including a $275,000 crystal-covered glove used by the singer on his “Bad” tour in 1987-89.
Equatorial Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking country in Sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the continent’s most isolated countries, with many of its citizens living in abject poverty despite its oil resources.
Its president, Obiang, 79, is the world’s longest-serving incumbent president and is routinely accused of human rights violations by human rights organizations.