Suspects in Zimbabwe May Face New Charges

[seemslikeadream]

Posted on Wed, Mar. 17, 2004



ANGUS SHAW

Associated Press


HARARE, Zimbabwe - Sixty-seven suspected mercenaries detained in Zimbabwe along with their three-man flight crew face additional charges of plotting to kill the president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, their lawyer said.

The suspects, accused of plotting a coup in the tiny west African nation, were previously notified that they would be charged under Zimbabwe's immigration and firearms laws.

On Tuesday, charges of plotting to kill President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma and his bodyguards were added, attorney Jonathan Samkange said.

Additional charges under Zimbabwe's sweeping security laws were also being considered, state television reported.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/8207716.htm

[seemslikeadream]

1. Mercenary suspects charged

March 18, 2004


Zimbabwe has charged 70 suspected mercenaries with conspiring to murder President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea in a plot to topple the government of the oil-rich African state, their lawyer said yesterday.

The men, who have been detained since March 7 after their aircraft was impounded at Harare International Airport, had previously been charged with breaching immigration laws and trying to buy firearms.

The Foreign Minister, Stan Mudenge, said the men could face the death penalty.

The men's lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, said the new charges are derived from common law and "cannot extend beyond the boundaries of Zimbabwe".

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/17/1079199293217.html

Zimbabwe 'Mercenaries' on murder conspiracy charge

"They were charged yesterday with attempting to murder the president of Equatorial Guinea and his bodyguards. There is also some indication that they could be charged under the Public Order and Security Act ," lawyer Jonathan Samkange said.

Equatorial Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer, says it has arrested 20 men it says were part of a plot funded by foreign powers and multinational firms to put an exiled opposition politician living in Spain in power.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=WORLD&oid=47145

[seemslikeadream]

2. Mercenaries face new charges in Zim

Defence lawyer Jonathan Samkange said the defence team was expecting to go to court on Wednesday morning, but the investigating officer telephoned to postpone the court appearance and asked them to come to the Chikurubi Prison again where their clients would be charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA).

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/310233.htm





French mercenarie Bob Denard



Zimbabwean personnel display some of the 'military material'

[bemildred]

3. Do you suppose the sudden onslaught of Mugabe bashing

down in GD and elsewhere could be related somehow to this
little mess with the mercen .., excuse me, mine guards?
Naaaahhh, couldn't be.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. It was kicked off by this thread

started when Zimbabwe told the USA to 'go to hell' - a few days before the plane.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1203279

[bemildred]

6. Thank you.

A very interesting thread, which I had not taken time
with before. It does seem very Venezuela-like.
I have read a quote from Desmond Tutu saying that
Mugabe seems to have gone a bit bonkers, but it was
not an especially hostile statement. All these left
over colonial messes still trying to sort themselves out.

[seemslikeadream]

5. Profile: Equatorial Guinea's great survivor

President Obiang is serving a third seven-year term


Last Updated: Wednesday, 17 March, 2004, 09:50 GMT


Profile: Equatorial Guinea's great survivor

By Nicholas Shaxson
Journalist specialising in the Gulf of Guinea countries

This, he said simply, was a state secret. He did not have to tell anyone where it had gone.

Family ties

President Obiang has put close family in the key positions of power and local politics has recently been dominated by tensions between his son Teodorin, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces.

Perhaps oil has given him a new source of strength that enables him to rely less on the family than before.

This shift, some say, may have stoked anger in his clan.

The thwarting of the latest apparent coup attempt has preserved his position for now, but the family tensions still simmer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3516588.stm



The benefits of oil have been slow to trickle down

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Latest bizarre report

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/165265_zimbabwe18.html

A lawyer for 67 men being held in Zimbabwe and accused of a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea said yesterday that the men had been charged with conspiring to murder a foreign leader.

But Zimbabwean prosecutors denied that, saying their country's laws do not cover such an offense.
...
The lawyer for the detained men, Jonathan Samkange, said the murder charges were filed Tuesday. But Zimbabwe's attorney general, Bharat Patel, said the only charges the men faced were violating firearms, immigration and public order statutes. The most serious of those charges carries a prison term of 10 years. Patel said the country had no legal power to prosecute mercenaries who plot against foreign leaders.

Have you ever heard of a defence lawyer talking about extra charges, and the prosecutors saying the defendants couldn't be charged with them?

[seemslikeadream]

8. Sources: Zimbabwe May Try 'Mercenaries' in Prison

Thursday, March 18, 2004 5:35 a.m. ET

By Cris Chinaka

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's trial of 70 suspected mercenaries charged with seeking to kill the president of Equatorial Guinea may begin in the top-security prison where they are being held, government sources said Thursday.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=837233&tw=wn_wire_story




Balancing Rocks
The Balancing Rocks near Harare also appear on Zimbabwean coins. They are hard rocks left standing when soft sediments had been eroded away by wind and weather. Joe Wein

[Jack Rabbit]

9. If they're guilty, they should be locked up in a dark dungeon

Colonialism is no more acceptable than slavery.

However, I would not want to trust anybody charged with any crime anywhere to the justice of a tyrant like Mugabe. Let's get these guys to a place where they can get a fair trial. Then we can hang them.

Oh, yes, and let's leave the overthrow of Obiang to the Guinean people. They have the right and good reason to act.

Here's some background on this story from the BBC.

[johnfunk]

10. Why is nobody saying that these mercenaries are TERRORISM suspects?

And why is nobody in the SCLM framing the story in this way? Jeez, you'd think that with a so-called war on "tairism" on, someone would say it.

[seemslikeadream]

11. Equatorial Guinea Urges Spain to Extradite Coup Planner

Carrie Giardino
Abidjan
14 Mar 2004, 15:38 UTC


The president of Equatorial Guinea has threatened to end diplomatic relations with Spain unless it extradites the opposition leader Severo Moto who is accused of planning a coup to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Thousands of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's supporters have turned out over the weekend to show their support for the government after the alleged coup attempt was discovered earlier in the week.

During the rally President Obiang said Spain must choose between allowing the exiled Severo Moto to remain in residence or cutting ties with its former colony.

President Obiang has accused Mr. Moto of planning the coup after 15 mercenaries were arrested in the oil-rich West African nation on Tuesday. One, identified as Nick du Toit, appeared on national television and reportedly admitted he was part of a plan to remove President Obiang from power and replace him with the exiled Mr. Moto. Mr. Moto insists he had nothing to do with the recent plot. However, he admits attempting another coup against the same government in 1997.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=EE27CDC6-08DB-4EE8-A7A323CD625FD48A


http://www.peacegallery.org/africa/eqguinea/eqg30.htm