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ZIMbobWE seizes US cargo Plane and Mercenaries

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ZIMbobWE seizes US cargo Plane and Mercenaries

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Old 29th Aug 2004, 18:14
  #181 (permalink)  
 
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A fair trial in South Africa?

You guys have not woken up to the fact that The Rainbow Nation Bull is a smoke screen.

Those guys "running" S.A have no concept of developing South Africa’s poor, or creating a nation for all. They just want to line pocket and get fat at the expense of all, ala Zimbabwe.
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Old 29th Aug 2004, 22:45
  #182 (permalink)  
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Dog... whatever your anti - South African comment ...

All I said was : "All they ever wanted is a fair trial in their own country .."

And believe me that is ALL they ever wanted.
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Old 30th Aug 2004, 13:54
  #183 (permalink)  
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Arrow Scorpions ...

Alleged mercenaries Harry Carlse and Lourens Horn have been charged for contravening the Foreign Military Assistance Act.

"They have been charged by the Scorpions. They will receive summonses to appear in court sometime next week," their lawyer Alwyn Griebenow told Sapa on Monday.

Griebenow and his clients spent Monday morning in a meeting the Scorpions' legal team in Pretoria.

"My clients are happy with the outcome of this morning's meeting," he said.

Carlse and Horn arrived home from Zimbabwe on Saturday after a Harare court acquitted them on weapons charges on Friday.

They spent six months at Chikurubi prison with 70 other alleged mercenaries arrested on March 7 at Harare International Airport.

The group had allegedly stopped off in Harare to purchase weapons to be used in an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.

Zimbabwean prosecutors said Carlse and Horn were hired to inspect a consignment of weapons intended to be used in an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. They maintained the weapons were for a security job at a mining operation in war-torn eastern Congo.

Former British Special Forces operative and alleged coup leader Simon Mann was convicted of trying to buy weapons from Zimbabwe's state arms manufacturer and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Edited by Tisha Steyn
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Old 30th Aug 2004, 14:54
  #184 (permalink)  
 
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Firstly no matter what your view of the South African justice system I think anyone would rather face trial in SA than Zimbabwe or Equitorial Guinea. However it does seem rather absurd that the Scorpions are charging two people that have been released by the Zimbabwean authorities

I'm sure the Scorpions would be better served fighting global terrorism - as in investigating what Al Qaeda links there are to SA (seems there are some with these chaps arrested by the Pakistan authorities) than worrying about some alleged coup in a far flung corner of Africa that wont affect any SA citizens.
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Old 30th Aug 2004, 16:11
  #185 (permalink)  
 
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There has been mention of some political maneouvring behind the scenes to keep the Zimboon ministers who were involved in the sale out of the spotlight. Apparently this is why things took so long......


Somewhere on avcom, I think.
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Old 31st Aug 2004, 08:16
  #186 (permalink)  
 
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I've been following the saga on the news and in the media with interest, and with regards to Mark T, it is clear that the Scorpions and the media have already found this man guilty. They have conducted a huge assassination on his character. What has happened to the so called "Innocent until PROVEN guilty"?

Not even Deputy President ZUMA received publicity such as this during his brush with the Scorpions and Bulelani Ngcuka. But then again, ZUMA is a member of the ruling party and the deputy president. He's got the right credentials to be above the law.

What further amazes me, is how this saga is now unfolding. Crause Steyl, was up until last Friday, a "dog of war". He believed in his cause, was happy to take Thatchers money and squander it on whatever he saw fit, and the moment the heat was turned on a bit too much, "He bacame a state witness". What a coward! A man with no balls.

I find it really amazing that the SA Government is spending so much money, time and energy to fight this mercenary thing. To date, it has cost the tax payer millions. Why don't they forget about assisting the EG Despot, leave him to run his own country, and focus their energy on making SA a safer and better place, free of crime and AIDS.

Come on Thabo, get real for a change my man!
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Old 31st Aug 2004, 09:52
  #187 (permalink)  
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It has been reported in a number of news reports that the Scorpions were handed the information by the MI6, and also the CIA had prior knowledge of the planned event. Perhaps the reaction, or overreaction, is because all this was supposedly going on under their noses and had to be pointed out from an outside force.

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Old 9th Sep 2004, 20:52
  #188 (permalink)  
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Arrow The End ?

My prayers are with you guys tonight.

I have high hopes of hearing fantastic news tomorrow !

A Zimbabwe judge is to hand down sentences on Friday against the alleged mastermind of a coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, Briton Simon Mann, and 67 other suspected mercenaries who were convicted two weeks ago.

Mann, a friend of Mark Thatcher who has been charged with bankrolling the alleged plot, faces up to 10 years in prison for attempting to illegally purchase weapons in Zimbabwe that the prosecution alleges were to be used in the coup.

The 67 other men, including the three-man crew that flew a plane from South Africa to Harare on March 7 to pick up the weapons, have been convicted of minor offences under Zimbabwe's immigration and aviation laws.

'I am not willing to speculate about the outcome'

The sentences will be the first to be handed down in connection with the alleged conspiracy to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

The affair has also drawn in 19 suspected mercenaries on trial in Malabo and a handful of influential British personalities that Malabo claims provided financial backing.

Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was arrested on August 25 in Cape Town and has been called to testify about his alleged involvement before a South African judge later this month.

South African lawyer Alwyn Griebenow declined to comment on the possible fate awaiting Mann, founder of the now defunct mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes, who has been held in Chikurubi maximum security prison along with the other men.

"We expect the case to be finalised on Friday but I am not willing to speculate about the outcome," said Alwyn Griebenow.

Mann allegedly recruited the suspected mercenaries to topple Obiang, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea for 25 years, and to pave the way for the return from exile in Spain of opposition politician Severo Moto.

For breaching immigration laws, the group of 67 men could be locked up for a year and a half or get away with a ZIM$1,5-million (about R1 700) fine, while convictions under the aviation law carry a maximum jail sentence of one month or a fine of ZIM$200 (about 20 cents).

The prosecution has asked for jail terms of between one year and 18 months for the immigration offences.

Two other suspected mercenaries, Harry Carlse and Lourens Horn, who were acquitted in Zimbabwe returned to South Africa and last week turned themselves in to authorities who said they are considering formal charges against them under South Africa's anti-mercenary law.

The sentences in Harare will bring to a close a six-week trial during which the prosecution rejected the suspected mercenaries' claims that they were on their way to guard a diamond mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Citing information and equipment found on the plane as well as the weapons the men were to collect, the prosecution argued that the men were ready for a military operation rather than routine security services.

The 67 men are from several southern African countries but were all travelling on South African passports when they were arrested on March 7.

Zimbabwe has turned down a request by Equatorial Guinea to extradite Mann and his alleged accomplices to face trial in Malabo.

Mann's former partner in Executive Outcomes, South African Nick du Toit, is on trial in Equatorial Guinea, accused of leading an advance party for the group jailed in Harare.

Harare meantime has applied for the forfeiture of the Boeing 727 that flew into Harare to pick up the weapons, which included mortar bombs, rocket launchers and hand grenades.
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Old 10th Sep 2004, 12:04
  #189 (permalink)  
 
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Simon Mann goes to jail

Simon Mann goes to jail
10/09/2004 13:31 - (SA)

Harare - Briton Simon Mann, the alleged mastermind behind a plot to stage a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, has been sentenced on Friday to seven years in jail by a Zimbabwe court.

Mann admitted trying to order assault rifles, grenades, anti-tank rocket launchers and other weapons from Zimbabwe Defence Industries.

A group of 65 other suspected mercenaries was sentenced to 12 months in jail while the two men who flew the plane to Harare in March to pick up weapons were given 16-month jail sentences.

Mann was convicted two weeks ago on charges of attempting to illegally purchase weapons that prosecutors argued were to be used to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in Malabo.

"The accused was the author of the whole transaction. He was caught while trying to take the firearms out of the country," said Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe as he handed down the sentence.

He said the offences "were well planned and well executed and that must be reflected in the penalty."
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Old 10th Sep 2004, 14:01
  #190 (permalink)  
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Grrr

A sad day .. the guys did no thave water to wash / flush the toilets for the past 2 weeks and they must stay another 12 / 16 months ...
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Old 10th Sep 2004, 14:47
  #191 (permalink)  
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Gunship, doesn´t the time they been in jail count off the 12- and
16 months penalities?
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Old 10th Sep 2004, 18:26
  #192 (permalink)  
 
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Amazing - I never knew a 727 was operated by a two-man crew!
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Old 12th Sep 2004, 08:11
  #193 (permalink)  
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Arrow

Hi ALex,

I spoke to one of the girlfriends as he left court.

She said it wa sclear it ran from last Friday.

She mailed me in the mean time : They are liable for release after 8 months (can only presume good behaviour etc) ?

I should get more clarity Monday afternoon when she is back at work in the US.

Cheers

Gunsss

AfricanQueen : Do not know much but do you mean that they should have a F/E onboard as well ?

I have seen the Saffers flying with an engineer but in deeper Africa without ?
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Old 6th Oct 2004, 15:09
  #194 (permalink)  
 
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Sad news, hope Mbeki is proud of himself!




"From The Star (SA), 6 October


Suspected mercenary dies in Zimbabwe jail


Harare - A South African man held in Zimbabwe over an alleged plot to overthrow the government in Equatorial Guinea has died. Ngave Jarukemo Muharukua (35), one of the 68 men held in a Zimbabwean jail, died yesterday in a Harare hospital, where he had been admitted last week, the state news agency reported. The cause of death was not revealed. "Ngave, a South African citizen, has died," New Ziana quoted an unnamed prison official as saying, without giving further details. A lawyer who has been representing the men could not confirm the death when contacted by reporters. The deceased was one of 70 men arrested at Harare's international airport in March when a plane they were travelling on stopped to pick up weapons from a state arms manufacturer. The men were last month sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to seven years for violating Zimbabwean immigration, firearms and aviation laws, and only two were acquitted. Sixty-seven of them, including the deceased, received prison terms of between 12 and 16 months for breaching immigration laws. German Eugen Nershz, one of the 15 foreigners arrested in Equatorial Guinea in connection with the coup attempt, died several days after his arrest, supposedly from complications arising from cerebral malaria. But Amnesty International said Nershz died "apparently as a result of torture". Meanwhile, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has suggested that the easiest way to deal with mercenaries in Africa is to shoot them. "Mercenaries, you just shoot them. This is a simple matter, it's not a big problem," he said yesterday in Harare, where he is on a state visit."
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Old 12th Oct 2004, 22:34
  #195 (permalink)  
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Arrow

The lawyer for eight South Africans implicated in a coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea died here on Tuesday of malaria, his family said.

Fernando Mico Nsue, who also suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, died in Malabo at the age of 62, his eldest son, Alberto Nguema said.

"He had not been feeling well over the past few days. He was suffering from malaria and when he had a relapse this morning, we decided to take him to the hospital. He died while he was being driven to the hospital," the son added.

Mico Nsue had also defended some of the 100 Equatorial Guinean dissidents and former soldiers tried in 2002 for a threat to state security.

Meanwhile there was no official word on whether the trial of the 19 accused of involvement in the coup plot last March to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema would resume on October 18 as announced last week by the Malabo court's chief judge.

In addition to the South Africans, six Armenians and five Equato-Guineans, including a former deputy minister, went on trial in Malabo in August for allegedly trying to topple Obiang, who has ruled the small central African country since 1979.

The case was adjourned on August 31 at the request of the country's attorney general, Jose Olo Obono, to get "further information" following the arrest of Mark Thatcher in South Africa on August 25.

The son of the former British prime minister is suspected by Equatorial Guinea and South Africa of bankrolling the alleged plot.
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Old 4th Nov 2004, 07:55
  #196 (permalink)  
 
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"Mercs?????" in Zimbabwe

Hey guys...any news on the pilots/mates in prison. How they doing, family's????. Can I send them anything: books, magazines, food etc etc would they get through the wardens?????

If so who can I contact to get addresses.

Have not heard anything since the ridiculous court case sentencing.

Thanks
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Old 4th Nov 2004, 09:44
  #197 (permalink)  
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Arrow

Thanks for the kind thoughts Captain.

The twin brother of one of the prisoners sadly had to go to Iraq to fund his brother (and other's) court cases etc.

He was my contact - I wll mail him and ask what to do.

Cheers and many thanks - believe me they appreciate ANYTHING !

Cheers

Gunsss
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Old 4th Nov 2004, 10:17
  #198 (permalink)  

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Gunnnss,
Try to get an address. Let´s do something for them together! At least we can show that outside world cares.
Nikolai
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Old 4th Nov 2004, 11:42
  #199 (permalink)  
 
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I would also like to send a parcel as I know some of the chaps.
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Old 4th Nov 2004, 20:54
  #200 (permalink)  
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Lightbulb Parcels and Letters

Thanks for the response guys.

Ok here are the details :

A Letter must be addressed as follows :

Full Name ............
CHIKURUBI MAXIMUM PRISON
PRIVATE BAG 7392
GREENDALE
HARARE
ZIMBABWE

ONLY English letters - Afrikaans goes to the bin.
NO politics
Nothing about your / their work.
NO addresses or other names mentioned please.

Reading Material - ONLY English and NO Politics Human Rights - War or Crime.

The guys are extremely malnorished and not well fed at all !

What you can send :

Biltong (vacuumpacked)
Dry Wors
Chocolate
Pro Nutro
Powder Milk
Sweets
Energy bars
Snacks (Pro Vita's / Marie Biscuits etc)
Packets of Soup
Dried Fruit

NO glass or tin cans!

Simple Medical Supplies like Ointments / Iodine / Cotton Swabs

Parcels can go (kindly) to the SA Embassy:

South African Embassy
PO BOX A 1654
AVONDALE
HARARE
ZIMBABWE
c/o Jacolize Bumm
Tel: + 263 4 753 147 / 52

I know the following and this is my request as I do not know everyone: I am sure you can send a "general" package as well to those that we do not know the names of ?

Raymond Archer
Simon Whiterspoon
Louis du Preez
Hendrik Hamman (Pilot)
Johan Steyl

I know where my Xmass presents will go to ...
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