- Seventy men, mostly Namibians, Angolans and South Africans, detained as "mercenaries" in the Zimbabwean capital Harare two weeks ago will finally appear in a prison court today, following the defence's failed application to have their case heard in a normal court. The men are accused of attempting to orchestrate a coup in Equatorial Guinea.
The case will now take place in Harare's Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison as the Zimbabwean authorities had wanted, both defence lawyers and the prosecution said yesterday. But the High Court in the Zimbabwean capital ruled that the proceedings should be open to the public - allowing for up to 100 people to attend, including journalists and relatives of the accused.
It is still not clear what all the charges will be as the Zimbabwean Acting Attorney General Bharat Patel gave conflicting information. The suspected mercenaries are expected to be charged under at least three laws, with two or more other charges still unclear.
Jonathan Samkange, who is representing the accused, said yesterday that so far six charges had been levelled against his clients. The charges added on Saturday relate to terrorism.
They follow earlier attempts to charge the men with conspiracy to murder the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. But Mr Patel said yesterday they would now not pursue that charge.
The latest charges are based on United Nations Security Council Resolutions: Zimbabwean authorities allege that the accused engaged "in a conspiracy to commit international terrorism" between June 2003 and March this year in South Africa.
Another terrorism charge claims that the 70 accused "conspired and agreed to overthrow the President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo from power in a coup d'état and underwent vigorous [training] in weapons handling and urban warfare..."
Mr Samkange said yesterday that authorities in Zimbabwe were unlikely to make the terrorism charges stick because the UN resolutions under on which the charges were formulated were not law in Zimbabwe. "Whereas it may be an offence in some countries, until our parliament has ratified them, that is not a criminal offence," said Mr Samkange.
Mr Patel, who was quoted by the Zimbabwean news agency 'Ziana' as saying that the charges had been laid, told 'The Namibian' the authorities were "still looking" into laying them.
The accused have already been notified of several breaches of immigration and firearms laws as well as Zimbabwe's notorious Public Order and Security Act (Posa) under which people can be detained without charge for long periods. They are accused of an attempt to buy a range of "dangerous weapons" from the state-agency Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI).
Logo Logistics, the company that was flying the men on the US-registered plane before it was seized in Harare, has maintained that they were going to Congo Kinshasa (DRC), where to guard the mining operations of several companies.
No firearms were found on the plane. Zimbabwean Authorities showed equipment on State television that included wire cutters, hammers, boots and heavy-duty clothing.
Mr Patel said the suspected mercenaries would be brought to court merely for a "remand" and that prosecution would "obviously resist bail" applications.
The accused include Namibians, South Africans, Angolans and Congolese. Most of the Namibian, Angolan and South Africans served in South Africa's apartheid army and had engaged in mercenaries activities before.
It is not yet clear whether the government of Equatorial Guinea will be represented in the court case. Equatoguinean President Obiang personally launched coup accusations against the "mercenaries" in Harare on national radio.
The detentions of the alleged mercenaries on Harare airport came at the same time as Equatoguinean authorities arrested a large number of foreigners - also termed as mercenaries - and opposition politicians.
The alleged mercenaries arrested in Equatorial Guinea were said to be a group preparing the arrival of those arrested in Harare. Together, the group's leader "confessed" on state TV, they were to topple the Obiang regime. Severo Moto, an exiled Equatoguinean politician, is accused of staging the planned coup, something he denies.
Also in the Equatoguinean capital, Malabo, a court case against the alleged mercenaries caught here is planned. The date of the Malabo court proceedings is however still not decided.
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