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Africa Subsaharan | ||
2008-06-15 | ||
Simon Mann, the Old Etonian mercenary accused of plotting a coup against the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, will appear in the dock on Tuesday amid growing evidence that the government in the capital, Malabo, is planning a show trial designed to embarrass its enemies.
The case against Mann and his fellow defendants, claims Amnesty, was completed only last Thursday. The next day the country's attorney general announced the date of the three-day trial, giving the defence almost no time to look at it. Under Equatorial Guinea's trial law - a system modelled on Spain's system of investigating magistrates - both the prosecution and defence are supposed to have several weeks to 'qualify' or challenge the case. Amnesty is also concerned that Mann's trial will follow the pattern set in previous major cases, where no material evidence is presented and the judge instead relies on confessions extracted under torture or duress. The location of the three-day trial is being kept a closely guarded secret until the opening day, with high security at the country's ports. Mann, a former officer in the SAS, was arrested in 2004 with 70 other men when his plane landed in Zimbabwe to collect a shipment of arms purchased from the country's state arms manufacturer. Another group, which included du Toit, was arrested in Equatorial Guinea itself. Together they were accused of hatching a plot to overthrow the country's president, who seized power in a coup in 1979.
Although Mann 'confessed' in a television interview that he was the 'manager' of the plot, he denied he was the 'main man'. He did, however, implicate Mark Thatcher, son of the former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, as part of the conspiracy. Mann's family has said the interview was given 'under duress' from the authorities in Malabo, as part of a plea bargain to mitigate a sentence which potentially could have carried the death penalty. | ||
Posted by:Steve White |
#1 'Sandline'....an interesting name, or a mark that should have been made LONG ago by western governments, or was it? The Bay of Pigs invasion went quite badly as well. |
Posted by: Besoeker 2008-06-15 09:39 |