Zim 70: Families devastated

2004-06-09 10:50

Pretoria - The families of 70 South African men held in Zimbabwe were on Wednesday devastated by the Pretoria High Court's ruling that it would not force President Thabo Mbeki's government to help bring the men back.

Justice Bernard Ngoepe dismissed the case, saying there was not enough evidence to force the South African government to seek the extradition of the 70 men, who are accused of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea.

"The application is dimissed," said Ngoepe.

The ruling meant that the 70 alleged soldiers of fortune will likely face trial in Zimbabwe, unless President Robert Mugabe's government hands over the men to Equatorial Guinea.

Lynn Paine, wife of flight engineer Ken Paine, who was among the 70 arrested in Harare on March 7, said the ruling now gave Zimbabwe a free hand to decide the men's fate.

"They can do what they like with them now," she said.

"I was hoping for some help from the South African government but obviously that is not forthcoming."

Hopes dashed

Paine said she would be in the Zimbabwean capital Harare on Thursday, where the 70 men are to appear for a custody hearing. The Zimbabwean judge may decide to set a court date at the hearing.

"They were pinning all their hopes on this. We now have to face them and give them this devastating news," she said.

The families of the 70 men had asked the court to force the South African government to bring them back home to face trial in South Africa or take measures to prevent them from being extradited to Equatorial Guinea where they could face the death penalty.

Constitutional Court

During three days of hearings in Pretoria in late May, lawyers for the families argued that the lives of the men - who are from South Africa, Namibia and Angola and were all travelling on South African passports - were at stake.

But the judge disagreed with the families' contention that the South African government was not fulfilling its obligation to protect its nationals.

"There is no evidence that the government is refusing to make the intervention requested by the applicants," he ruled.

Ngoepe also found that the South African authorities had "the discretion to decide whether to prosecute or not" the suspected mercenaries and should not be forced by the courts to act.

Lawyer Francois Joubert, representing the families, said they would probably appeal the decision at the constitutional court.

- AFP