The households of 2 South African engineers imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea have introduced a marketing campaign for his or her pressing shed.

Frik Potgieter (54) and Peter Huxham (55) had been arrested in February utmost time on what their households say are trumped-up drug fees.

It used to be alleged all the way through the courtroom case that medication were discovered of their baggage.

Their arrest got here days later luxurious property belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s Vice-President Teodore Nguema Obiang had been seized in South Africa.

The BBC has requested the Equatorial Guinea government for remark.

Mr Obiang’s yacht and two villas in Cape The town had been impounded in execution of a courtroom ruling.

The yacht has reportedly since been exempt however the villas stay impounded.

The South African expatriates had been running for an oil and gasoline corporate after they “were illegally arrested and imprisoned” on “fake drug charges”, their petition says.

“Frik and Peter are innocent of these charges, and have been caught in a diplomatic battle between South Africa and Equatorial Guinea,” they are saying of their marketing campaign at the petition platform exchange.org.

They’ve referred to as for the help of the South African executive in addition to the United Kingdom executive, as Mr Huxham has twin nationality.

South Africa’s International Minister Naledi Pandor utmost week requested for the shed of the 2 males all the way through her discuss with to the Equatorial Guinea utmost week.

A ministry observation in early Might mentioned the minister had raised “concerns regarding the incarceration of two South African citizens in the country”.

It famous that the 2 international locations had been proceeding to interact at the subject.

However the nation says day that had raised their hopes, since later “there has been no movement”.

The ministry didn’t right away reply to BBC queries in regards to the subject.

The South Africans had been imprisoned for 12 years and fined $5m (£4m) each and every utmost June.

Their households say they’re being held in a jail reserved for political prisoners in Mongomo within the east of the rustic.

“[There is] no doubt that their arrests are aimed at forcing South Africa to release the vice-president’s properties,” South African media quoted a nation spokesman, Shaun Murphy, as announcing.

The households say their legal professionals had lodged an enchantment in opposition to the courtroom complaints and the sentences, which they termed “excessive”.