FRENCH lawyers tried to convince the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today that it has no jurisdiction in a corruption case already completed in France.

Equatorial Guinea Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue was convicted by a Paris court in October of embezzling public money worth millions of pounds, handing him a three-year suspended prison sentence and a €30 million (£26.50m) suspended fine.

Mr Obiang Mangue, who did not attend the trial, denied the charges and defence lawyer Emmanuel Marsigny accused France of meddling in Equatorial Guinea’s domestic affairs.