The case against Baltasar ‘Bello’ Ebang Engonga, a great-nephew of Equatorial Guinea’s President Obiang who has been in prison after intimate videos surfaced online, has gone cold after the Supreme Court threw it out on the lack of basis and the fact that all the involved persons were consenting adults.
This case of Balthazar Engonga attracted international attention after compromising videos were posted online. According to the decision of the Supreme Court of Equatorial Guinea, Balthazar was acquitted of any wrongdoing, as all the women involved in the videos were consenting adults. Medical tests also confirmed that he had not transmitted any sexually transmitted diseases to these women.
The court noted that several married men, whose wives appeared in the videos, expressed their gratitude to Balthazar, because these videos allowed them to discover aspects of married life that they were unaware of. As a result, several of them chose to divorce.
Balthazar responded by announcing his intention to sue those responsible for the dissemination of the videos. He denounced a violation of his privacy and expressed the suffering inflicted on his family, particularly his wife, due to this public exposure.
This case highlights issues of consent, privacy and responsibility in sharing intimate content online, and the social and personal consequences that arise.
How it started
Balthazar Engonga was the head of the National Financial Investigation Agency, and worked on tackling crimes such as money laundering.
But it turned out he himself was under investigation.
He was arrested on 25 October accused of embezzling a huge sum of money from state coffers and depositing it in secret accounts in the Cayman Islands. He has not commented on the accusation.
Mr Engonga was then taken to the infamous Black Beach prison in the capital, Malabo, where it is alleged that opponents of the government are subjected to brutal treatment.
His phones and computers were seized and a few days later the intimate videos started appearing online.