AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL demanded at the weekend that Equatorial Guinea release human-rights activist Luis Nzo, who was detained for denouncing the arrest of an opposition leader.

Mr Nzo was beaten and arrested on Thursday in the central African nation for distributing leaflets and using a megaphone to deplore the arrest of Guillermo Nguema, Amnesty said.

Mr Nguema, who leads the Republican Democratic Force opposition party, had been arrested earlier and taken to a village in the country’s east.

He was told he could not leave the village without authorisation.

“Luis Nzo must be immediately and unconditionally released and all restrictions of movement lifted from Guillermo Nguema,” said Amnesty spokeswoman Marta Colomer Aguilera. “There is no legitimate reason to justify this — it is simply a crackdown on dissent.”