WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2004-05-27 Time: 11:04:13 Posted By: Jan
[The poor buggers… I wonder if, or when they will be free again one day… or if they face a firing squad. Jan]
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) — Lawyers for 70 suspected mercenaries detained in Zimbabwe urged the state to set a trial date for them on charges of plotting to topple the government in Equatorial Guinea, saying their continued detention was unfair.
The men were arrested on March 7 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 men have denied the charges, saying they were heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo to guard mining operations.
“The state should not be taking this long in order to come up with a trial date. To continuously remand the accused persons in custody while the state is sucking its thumb…is unfair,” their Zimbabwean lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, told a makeshift court at the high security prison where the men are held.
Earlier this month a Harare magistrate rejected an application by the 70 to dismiss the state case against them, saying there was reasonable suspicion they had contravened Zimbabwe’s security, firearms, aviation and immigration laws.
Prosecutors say the charges could carry life imprisonment, but Samkange argued their detention was prejudicial because they would only face fines if convicted. The defence has said the maximum penalty would be a fine of 200,000 Zimbabwean dollars ($37.50) for each man.
Last month Obiang held talks with President Robert Mugabe in Harare which state media said centred on a possible extradition for the men to Equatorial Guinea, but the government has not yet made any announcement.
Last week lawyers for the accused began a high court action in South Africa demanding that country prevent their extradition to Equatorial Guinea, where they say the men will not get a fair trial and could face the death penalty.
The lawyers said on Tuesday the Zimbabwean government had said it might agree to return the men to South Africa to stand trial if Pretoria made an extradition request. Zimbabwean authorities were not immediately available to comment.
In South Africa on Wednesday, the cabinet said the men should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, but added the government had no power or intention to pre-empt court hearings in either Zimbabwe or Equatorial Guinea.
The cabinet said it was waiting for a decision by the Pretoria high court on whether it had a basis for intervention.
“(The) Government will abide by the decisions of our country’s courts on this matter,” it said in a statement.
Source: CNN
URL: http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/05/26/zi…/p>