death penalty news August 9, 2004
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: EG 8: Won't get death penalty The eight South Africans being held in Equatorial Guinea (EG) on suspicion of plotting a coup, will probably not get the death penalty if found guilty because they never carried out their plan. If they are found guilty, during their trial, which is expected to start in the capital Malabo later this month, they will be handed down prison sentences instead. This new development stems from an interview EG President Obiang Nguema gave to the French publication Jeunne Afrique Intelligent (JAI) recently. According to Nguema, the death penalty stands in EG but then the crime has to have been committed in the country. The alleged South African mercenaries were merely intending to carry out a coup, said Nguema. "We were waiting for them" He confirmed reports that his government had been warned of the group's intentions. ''We would naturally have resisted. Even if the coup had gone ahead it could never have been successful. We were waiting for them,'' he said. According to Nguema, the second group of 70 suspected mercenaries currently being held in Zimbabwe will not be extradited to EG. These men were arrested at Harare airport in March on suspicion of planning a coup. This comes despite earlier reports that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe sealed a transaction with Nguema for millions of dollars worth of oil in exchange for the Zimbabwean-held prisoners. ''Nguema labelled these reports as ''false, completely false.'' According to him, EG did not have room to accommodate an extra 70 prisoners in its maximum security prison. He said it was already a strain looking after the eight South Africans and an additional six foreigners, including flight crew who had worked for an aviation company owned by one of the prisoners, Nick du Toit. Nguema said that he and Mugabe had agreed that they would each look after their own suspected mercenaries even if both group's had been planning to take part in the same coup. ''Those in Harare will be tried in Harare and those in Malabo here,'' he said. ''No extradition will take place. I will not request it as it will be too complex to put in place,'' he said. Nguema said they had hoped to start the trial earlier but had been waiting for the South African observers and legal representatives to help finalise the case. The trial is scheduled to start on August 23 and is expected to last five day before sentencing. Nguema also confirmed that he had copies of all contracts and plans implicating Simon Mann, who is in custody in Harare, as being one of the mastermind's behind the plan. According to him, Mann was the ''head'' of the ''mercenaries'' along with Elie Khalil, a Lebanese oil tycoon who lives in Britain, and Severo Moto, ousted EG leader living in exile in Spain. ''Certain elements also indicate that Mark Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher's son) and a former Thatcher-cabinet minister, who I cannot name, handled the financial planning of the coup,'' he said. (source: news24)
