Cipriano Nguema Mba, one of the seven accused, faced the Military Court on September 29, 2014.

Former army Colonel Cipriano Nguema Mba who has been held in Malabo since December 23, 2013, has appeared before the Military Tribunal in the capital Malabo to answer charges of attempted crimes that threaten the security of the State, local press reports say.

This is the beginning of trials concerning seven suspects on the same charges.  The other suspects  some of whom had been remanded in custody in Malabo since January 2014 include Ticiano Obama Ncogo, Timoteo Asumu and two wives of de Leoncio Nguema Asumu, Emilia Abeme et Mercedes Obono Nkoni. The two other suspects to be judged are Antonio Nkoni et Leoncio Nguema.

The Military Tribunal has reportedly rejected the lawyers of the accused María Jesús Bikene  and Fabián Nsue who have to be replaced by military judicial personnel chosen by the court. The procedure is criticized for not being in conformity with the law as the other six suspects except Mba are all civilians. 

The legal mind Celestino Nvo Okenve reportedly pointed out irregularities  that relate to the fact that the charge of attempted crime that threaten State security  levied against the suspects is neither defined in the Penal Code nor in that of military justice. He stated further violation of the law in the procedure citing the Penal Code which provides that nobody should be detained for more than 72 hours (three days) without being taken to court  but the suspects have been in custody secretly for more than five months.

Nguema Mba had been convicted in absentia in a secret 2005 military trial. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup and embezzling government funds, reports say. He is said to have escaped from prison in October 2010, and eventually settled with his family in Belgium, where he had been granted political asylum.