LOME, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Togolese lawyers say they have filed a complaint in Paris against the Confederation of the African Football (CAF), its president Issa Hayatou, the Front for the Liberation of Cabinda Enclave (FLEC) and the host country Angola, following the recent attack on their footballers.
In a statement issued here on Friday, a group of lawyers said they represent the relatives of the two victims of the Jan. 8 shooting incident against the Togolese football team by the Cabinda separatists in the enclave of Angola.
The group, which comprises two advocates from the Togolese bar, Alexis Aquereburu and Lionel Sanvi and one advocate from the Paris bar, said the cited institutions and persons were "responsible" for the attack in Cabinda.
The bus carrying Togolese footballers was machine-gunned by Cabinda separatists when the team was entering the enclave for a game set for Jan. 11 against Ghana. That would be a match of the final phase of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) in Angola 2010.
The attack caused nine injuries. Assistant coach Amelete Abalo, 55, and press official Stanislas Ocloo, 35, succumbed to their injuries.
Through one of their representatives living in France, FLEC claimed responsibility for the attack on the Togolese entourage.
According to the president of the Bar, Aquereburu, CAF organized CAN in "a war zone" despite a letter from the International Federation for Football Associations (FIFA) warning of the dangers. He termed this as a "serious and deliberate move that was aimed at putting the life of other people in danger."
"This was carelessness which is totally unacceptable," Aquereburu said, vowing to refer the case to the most senior investigating magistrate in the court in Paris and use all known judicial means against the perpetrators, co-perpetrators and the accomplices in this "crime."
The lodged complaints include "act of terrorism, complicity in an assassination plot, involuntary or voluntary attack on the integrity of life and exposure of others to the immediate risks of death and injuries."
