Thatcher can 'easily' prove he was not involved in coup plot:lawyer

[emad]

By Raymond Whitaker
12 September 2004

Snip from The Independent
Sir Mark Thatcher will "easily" be able to prove he had nothing to do with an alleged coup plot in the oil-rich west African state of Equatorial Guinea, his lawyer said yesterday, despite the jailing of his close friend Simon Mann on arms charges.

Baroness Thatcher's son has been freed from house arrest in his luxury Cape Town mansion after his mother stood £165,000 bail for him, but he is not permitted to leave the Cape Peninsula and must report to the police every day. Last month he was arrested by the Scorpions, an elite unit investigating charges against him under South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance Act, and ordered to return to court in November.

"In the circumstances he is coping very well, because he believes he is innocent and is confident of the South African legal system," Sir Mark's local lawyer, Ron Wheeldon, said yesterday.The main implication of Mann's seven-year sentence in Zimbabwe, Mr Wheeldon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, was that the court found "no compelling evidence of a coup plot".

The only indication that such a plan existed, said the lawyer, came from "hearsay reports" by Nick du Toit, one of eight South Africans on trial in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, where they are charged with being the advance guard for a coup attempt. Mr du Toit was "apparently tortured", said Mr Wheeldon, "and certainly denied the sort of access to legal counsel that any civilised state would give a person".

Equatorial Guinea has suspended its trial until 1 October while it awaits the outcome of proceedings elsewhere. It has sent lawyers to South Africa, where the authorities have agreed to allow them to put questions to Sir Mark through a magistrate. A hearing for this has been set for next week, although Sir Mark's lawyers are contesting some of the arrangements.
More:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=560826


Think it's gone a bit too far down the line, Scratchie....

[seemslikeadream]

1. Thatcher 'raked in millions'

Thatcher 'raked in millions'
12/09/2004 08:25 - (SA)

London - Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher now embroiled in alleged financing of a coup plot, made millions yearly through business in Zimbabwe, The Sunday Times alleged.

Thatcher earned up to £6m a year by selling diesel fuel from South Africa in Zimbabwe, the paper quoted sources as saying.

He also shared ownership of a lucrative gold mine in Zimbabwe, which is now under investigation for smuggling by Zimbabwe police, it said.

The 51-year-old Briton was arrested on August 25 at his Cape Town home and charged with contributing %275 000 to help finance a coup in Equatorial Guinea masterminded by his friend and neighbour Simon Mann.

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1587777,00.html

[emad]

7. How? he bribed the cops then paid other cops to bust them:

He became a partner in Emergency Networks, a Texas-based firm that installed security alarms. But the venture collapsed in 1994, leaving a string of debts.

A year later he settled in Cape Town and started to pursue new ventures. One was a scheme to sell loans to the city's police officers. It became mired in scandal in the late 1990s when it emerged that he was hiring moonlighting police officers to act as debt collectors against their colleagues."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1257704_1 ...

[seemslikeadream]

2. Thatcher set for jail hell if found guilty

As Simon Mann is imprisoned for his role in a coup attempt, his associate could face a worse fate. Fred Bridgland reports from Johannesburg



Margaret Thatcher’s controversial son, Mark, must be a nervous man this weekend as his friend and close Cape Town neighbour, Simon Mann, begins a seven-year jail term in Zimbabwe’s notorious Chikurubi Jail for offences related to an attempted mercenary coup d’état in Equatorial Guinea.
Mark Thatcher is under house arrest in Cape Town, facing charges of co-financing the coup and providing a plane that was scheduled to fly an exiled opposition leader into Equatorial Guinea to replace dictator-President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Thatcher, 51, faces the possibility of 15 years of incarceration in a South African prison system that is notorious for its gang violence, overcrowding and disease. Thatcher, who has lived in Cape Town for the past eight years, will reappear in court on November 25 to answer charges that he breached South Africa’s strict anti-mercenary legislation, the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act .

A newly completed three-year commission of inquiry, under Judge Thabani Jali, said that what goes on in South African prison cells when nobody is watching is appalling. Rape is commonplace and lethal, given that most prisoners are HIV-positive. “Warders pay little or no attention to reports that it has happened,” the Jali Commission reported. Amnesty International has warned the South African government it is at risk of breaching international human rights laws.

more
http://www.sundayherald.com/44695

[Octafish]

3. "Plausible Deniability" is a beautiful thing...

Oops.

EXCERPT...

Mr Steyl, whose brother Niel flew the aircraft seized in Zimbabwe, is understood to have turned state's evidence in South Africa, and may testify against Sir Mark. On Friday, when Mann was sentenced, Niel Steyl and his co-pilot were jailed for 16 months on immigration charges, while the other 65 men on the aircraft received 12 months.

Hope they have a Witness Protection Program in Cape Town. "Don't worry, Mark! The SAS is on the way..."

[seemslikeadream]

4. Mr Steyl & Johan Meyer maybe they'll be using the same plastic surgeon

Suspect In High-Level WMD Smuggling Ring Disappears

Weekend Argus Saturday 11th September, 2004

A South African engineer implicated in an international nuclear smuggling network has vanished.

The disappearance of Johan Meyer comes as government officials continue to hold their cards close to their chest about their 'inquiries' into the network.

Refusing to comment 'in depth' about investigations into the syndicate allegedly supplying Libya, Iran and North Korea with materials for their nuclear programmes, officials would only say they were working closely with international agencies.

Meyer, who was arrested last week, 'disappeared' on Wednesday after the withdrawal of all charges against him in South Africa's Vanderbijlpark magistrate's court.
more
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=6188b6c485c500bc

WMD mystery deepens as engineer 'vanishes'
Meyer is believed to be providing law enforcement agents with details of at least 15 businessmen and businesses allegedly involved in the sale and manufacturing of nuclear equipment for rogue nations such as Libya, Iran and North Korea.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20040911091911988C923570
more

S.Africa arrests two on WMD charges(Abdul Qadeer Khan link)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x813182

[Octafish]

8. Oil, Guns (Nukes, too) & Dope.

... and Power. That's all these turds think about.

Thanks for the heads-up. D'oh! Hadn't realized the connection between the UK aristos and Dr. Khan. Then again, international skullduggery in the name of NAZI-WASP-BFEE supremacy is the name of the game.



Johan Meyer appears at the Vanderbijlpark magistrate's court. (AP)

Uranium plant 'highly unlikely'

07/09/2004 07:37 - (SA)
Elise Tempelhoff

Johannesburg - It is possible for an individual to build a gas centrifuge for the enrichment of uranium, but the nuclear technology needed is so expensive and complex that it is improbable.

If Johan Andries Muller Meyer, 53, a mechanical engineer, had got it right, it would have been the first time in history as until now this type of installation has been built only by major international institutions, said a scientist on Monday.

In addition to this, Meyer would have needed millions of rands to build it.

In South Africa, Melinda was the home of the country's nuclear weapons programme during the apartheid era, said the scientist.

SNIP...

Some are making billions

An International Atomic Energy Agency spokesperson said from Vienna, Austria, on Monday, that he was aware of the massive seizure.

He confirmed that inspectors from the IAEA were in South African investigating "links in the network" that spans 20 countries.

CONTINUED...

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1584832,00.html

More and more the evidence comes in:
The BFEE works to herald Chimpageddon.

[emad]

9. New twist on African money laundering e-mail scam:

"You can't fault Africa's internet conmen for failing to keep up with current affairs. The latest e-mail doing the rounds claims to be an appeal for help from Sir Mark Thatcher, who promises a half-share in $25m for anybody willing to put their bank account at his disposal. And if you don't fancy the cash, how about the presidency of Equatorial Guinea?"

- Jasper Gerrard, Sunday Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1258169_2...

[DulceDecorum]

5. What do you think of western civilization?

I think it would be a good idea.
-- Mahatma Gandhi

The only indication that such a plan existed, said the lawyer, came from "hearsay reports" by Nick du Toit, one of eight South Africans on trial in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, where they are charged with being the advance guard for a coup attempt. Mr du Toit was "APPARENTLY TORTURED", said Mr Wheeldon, "and certainly DENIED the sort of access to LEGAL COUNSEL that ANY CIVILISED STATE any civilised state would give a person".
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=560826

Britain:
Court of Appeals rules evidence obtained through torture is admissible
13 August 2004
The August 11 ruling by the Court of Appeals that “evidence” obtained by torture is admissible in UK law is a fundamental repudiation of international legal norms, that graphically underscores the absence of any real commitment to democracy within Britain’s ruling circles.
The ruling by Britain’s second highest court not only means that ten foreign nationals currently detained without charge for more than two years can continue to be held indefinitely, but it effectively sanctions collusion by the British authorities in human rights abuses, including torture.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/aug2004/brit-a13.shtml

So, what seems to be the problem?

[gandalf]

6. You cannot really expect that

terrorists -- who are not civilized -- can benefit from the norms of civilized legal systems. /Ashcroft mode