XASA
03-22-2004, 11:39 AM
Live by the sword, die by the sword...
March 22, 2004
Plane Suspects to Be Tried in Zimbabwe
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:23 a.m. ET
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- A judge ruled Monday that 70 men accused of plotting a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea will be tried at the maximum-security prison where they are being held.
High Court Judge Tedius Karwi dismissed a defense application for the hearing to be held at the Harare Magistrate's Court, accepting the state's argument that it would have ``serious security and logistical problems'' getting the group there.
However, Karwi ordered authorities to ensure an open hearing at Chikurubi prison, 15 miles north of the capital.
``All interested persons, including members of the press, must be given easy access,'' he said.
State attorney Mary Dube said the alleged mercenaries would make their first appearance Tuesday.
The 70 were arrested when their aging Boeing 727 landed at Harare International Airport on March 8. Most are former members of South Africa's apartheid-era military forces, and there are concerns they would try to escape if moved.
Underscoring those fears, Dube argued that prison authorities did not have the means to get them to court because they have only one working truck.
Zimbabwe, suffering its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1980, faces acute shortages of many essentials.
Defense attorney Francois Joubert questioned whether an open trial could be held at the prison, arguing it took lawyers up to three hours to get through all the roadblocks along the way.
He added that the suspects' South African relatives would need Foreign Ministry clearance to visit the prison. Authorities have refused to let relatives already in Harare visit.
``Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done,'' Joubert said.
Authorities allege that Spanish-based rebel leader Severo Moto offered the suspects $1.8 million and oil rights to overthrow the government in Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony. Another 14 suspected mercenaries have been detained in that west African country.
The men say they were on their way to security jobs at mining operations in eastern Congo.
Zimbabwe authorities have prepared six charges against them, including conspiring to kill Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma and his bodyguards, conspiring to commit international terrorism, and conspiring to acquire weapons for an insurgency or terrorism.
Charges have also been brought under Zimbabwe's immigration and firearms legislation, as well as a colonial-era law banning activities of ``foreign subversive organizations.''
March 22, 2004
Plane Suspects to Be Tried in Zimbabwe
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:23 a.m. ET
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- A judge ruled Monday that 70 men accused of plotting a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea will be tried at the maximum-security prison where they are being held.
High Court Judge Tedius Karwi dismissed a defense application for the hearing to be held at the Harare Magistrate's Court, accepting the state's argument that it would have ``serious security and logistical problems'' getting the group there.
However, Karwi ordered authorities to ensure an open hearing at Chikurubi prison, 15 miles north of the capital.
``All interested persons, including members of the press, must be given easy access,'' he said.
State attorney Mary Dube said the alleged mercenaries would make their first appearance Tuesday.
The 70 were arrested when their aging Boeing 727 landed at Harare International Airport on March 8. Most are former members of South Africa's apartheid-era military forces, and there are concerns they would try to escape if moved.
Underscoring those fears, Dube argued that prison authorities did not have the means to get them to court because they have only one working truck.
Zimbabwe, suffering its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1980, faces acute shortages of many essentials.
Defense attorney Francois Joubert questioned whether an open trial could be held at the prison, arguing it took lawyers up to three hours to get through all the roadblocks along the way.
He added that the suspects' South African relatives would need Foreign Ministry clearance to visit the prison. Authorities have refused to let relatives already in Harare visit.
``Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done,'' Joubert said.
Authorities allege that Spanish-based rebel leader Severo Moto offered the suspects $1.8 million and oil rights to overthrow the government in Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony. Another 14 suspected mercenaries have been detained in that west African country.
The men say they were on their way to security jobs at mining operations in eastern Congo.
Zimbabwe authorities have prepared six charges against them, including conspiring to kill Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma and his bodyguards, conspiring to commit international terrorism, and conspiring to acquire weapons for an insurgency or terrorism.
Charges have also been brought under Zimbabwe's immigration and firearms legislation, as well as a colonial-era law banning activities of ``foreign subversive organizations.''