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Zim 70 give ultimatum
Johannesburg - A group of 70 suspected mercenaries held in Zimbabwe on charges of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea are preparing to take the government to court unless it helps them, a lawyer said on Tuesday. The men, who have been in a Harare jail for the past two months, have asked President Thabo Mbeki's government to either seek their extradition to South Africa or provide assurances that they will not be handed over for trial in Equatorial Guinea, lawyer Alwyn Griebenow said. The government was notified in an official letter served on Monday and Tuesday that it has 24 hours to respond to the request or face court action. "If we do not receive the undertakings... we will proceed with an urgent matter in the Pretoria High Court," Griebenow told AFP, adding that the petition could be heard next week.
The 70 men, who come from South Africa, Namibia and Angola but were all travelling on South African passports, were arrested at Harare airport on March 7 and are accused of planning to overthrow Equatorial Guinea's long-time leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema with weapons bought from Zimbabwe's state arms manufacturer. Fifteen other men were arrested on similar charges in the oil-rich but impoverished central African country and are charged with being accomplices in the same plot. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe earlier this month held talks with Obiang after which an official told AFP that Mugabe had agreed to hand over the men for trial and a possible death sentence in Equatorial Guinea.
There has not, however, been any official statement from the Zimbabwe government about extradition of the 70 men. Griebenow said that authorities were investigating whether the men may have violated South Africa's law on foreign military assistance. "If they have a case they should serve warrants on the men. If they do this they must apply for their extradition to South Africa," said Griebenow. "We haven't got a problem standing trial but we don't believe they will have a fair trial in Zimbabwe. We want them, therefore, to stand trial in South Africa," he said. The families of the alleged soldiers of fortune held a protest last Friday in Pretoria to ask Mbeki to bring the men home. The government has given no indication that it is planning to intervene if the men are extradited to Equatorial Guinea, saying there was "no legal basis for South Africa to demand that its nationals should not be extradited to another country."