Harare court refuses to drop 'mercenary' case
Harare court refuses to drop 'mercenary' case
May 12 2004
Harare - A Zimbabwe magistrate on Wednesday refused to dismiss a case against 70 suspected mercenaries, saying there was evidence to suggest that they were part of a plot to topple the president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.
Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe told a special court hearing in a high-security Harare prison that government lawyers had shown that the men - mostly South Africans - should stand trial.
"I am satisfied that there is a reasonable suspicion that the 70 suspected persons committed a crime as alleged by the state," Guvamombe said, rejecting a defence bid to have the case dismissed.
The men were arrested in March after their plane landed in Harare on what Zimbabwe officials said was a mission to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer.
'The state has got no case to start with'
The suspects have denied the charges, saying they were heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo to guard mining operations.
But state lawyer Lawrence Phiri told the court on Wednesday that prosecutors had evidence of a contract between one of the detained men, Simon Mann, and exiled Equatorial Guinea opposition leader Severo Moto.
"There is an existing contract, and we have that contract, to show that Simon Mann and his men were going to be paid a certain amount, with the highest being $15-million for Simon Mann and $3-million for the generality," Phiri said.
Phiri also said the government had a videotape of Mann contracting to buy "dangerous weapons" from state-owned arms maker Zimbabwe Defence Industries during an earlier trip to Zimbabwe.
"Any reasonable man, hearing what they did, would conclude that they were terrorists and mercenaries," Phiri said.
They fear the men could be executed if found guilty
Jonathan Samkange, a lawyer for the detained men, said the state had not produced any evidence to back up its allegations and urged the court to free the suspects.
"The state has got no case to start with," Samkange said.
Equatorial Guinea has detained another 15 men on similar charges, saying foreign interests were behind the alleged coup plot.
Friends and family members of the men arrested in Zimbabwe have urged South Africa to intervene, saying they fear the men could be executed if found guilty.
South Africa, which has laws barring its citizens from mercenary activity, has said it will not get involved in the trial but may attempt to intervene if death sentences are passed.
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