SA court bid to save 'Zim 70'

2004-05-04 22:16

Erika Gibson

Pretoria - The legal team for the 70 alleged coup plotters being held in Zimbabwe is expected to lodge an application in Pretoria High Court to force the South African government to step in.

François Joubert SC and Alwyn Griebenow on Tuesday accused the South African government of doing "absolutely nothing" to protect the human rights of its citizens.

"All the men want is the right to a fair trial. The government cannot say it has no legal grounds to get involved in the case," said Griebenow.

When Robert McBride was arrested on charges of weapons dealing and espionage in Mozambique in 1999, Mathews Phosa, the then-premier of Mpumalanga, as well as other government officials, immediately came out in support of him.

When South Africans Callie and Monique Strydom were taken hostage in the Philippines in 2000, the government sent a high-level delegation to negotiate their release, said Griebenow.

"How can the government now simply accept that the men are mercenaries before they have even been found guilty?"

According to the legal team, the South African government is conspicuous by its absence at the court hearings.

The British high commissioner is always present in the interests of Simon Mann, who is also a British citizen.

Even the Namibian government has had a representative in court, as one of the men is also a Namibian citizen.

All 70 of the men were travelling on South African passports.

"Initially, there was a South African representative, but there hasn't been one for a long time. The high commissioner has also not paid a single visit to the men.

"The men's families haven't had a single call from the department of foreign affairs to give them information.

"How can the government stay on top of affairs if it is clearly distancing itself from the men?"

According to Griebenow, the Zimbabwean police seized original contracts from the men, which stated they would be guarding mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The police are refusing to hand over these documents.

SA legal team 'being blackmailed indirectly'

The Zimbabwean government has also refused the team access to this evidence.

The Zimbabwean intelligence services openly give orders to the Zimbabwean state prosecutor, while the South African legal team is "indirectly" being blackmailed.

The team has been told it must stop with its arguments in court, otherwise the men will be extradited to Equatorial Guinea.

Another threat is that the men must plead guilty or that the South African government must request extradition to South Africa in order for the case to be resolved.

- Beeld