2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt five calls to Sir Mark Thatcher in the days after the failed coup. On 13 January 2005, Mark Thatcher, in a South African court, pleaded guilty to helping finance a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. South African police were able to prove that Mr Thatcher had transferred about US$285,000 to the mercenaries that were to execute the operation and had met and talked frequently to them prior to the coup attempt. After pleading guilty, he was given a four-year suspended sentence and a fine of about US$560,000. Simon Mann paid $500,000 (£281,000) towards the plot, according to a list of
2009 Equatorial Guinean presidential election recent weeks it [the government] has stifled and harassed the country's beleaguered political opposition ... [and] imposed serious constraints on international observers." With similar observations and accounts in mind, IFES commentator Almani Cyllah said that "it is a little difficult to see how we can say that those elections are free and fair." 2009 Equatorial Guinean presidential election A presidential election was held in Equatorial Guinea on November 29, 2009. Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has been President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979, ran for another term and won re-election with 95.4% of the vote, according to official results. Opposition leader