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Zim 68: SA prisoner dies
05/10/2004 22:42 - (SA)
Harare - One of the 68 men held in a Zimbabwean jail over an alleged plot to overthrow the government in Equatorial Guinea died on Tuesday.
Ngave Jarukemo Muharukua, 35, died in a Harare hospital where he had been admitted last week, New ZIANA said. The cause of death was not revealed.
"Ngave, a South African citizen, has died," the news agency quoted an unnamed prison official as saying without giving further details.
A lawyer who has been representing the men could not confirm the death.
The deceased was one of 70 men arrested at Harare's international airport in March when a plane they were travelling on stopped to pick up weapons from the state arms manufacturer.
The men were last month sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to seven years for violating Zimbabwean immigration, firearms and aviation laws and only two were acquitted.
Sixty-seven of them, including the deceased, got prison terms of between 12 and 16 months for breaching immigration laws.
Their leader and former British special services operative Simon Mann was sentenced to seven years in jail for attempting to illegally purchase weapons.
Authorities here accused them of being on their way to depose the government of Tedoro Obiang Nguema, the long-time president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.
The men denied the charges and claimed they were on their way to protect diamond mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The alleged plot has embroiled some high-profile names including Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister.
Thatcher, who lives in South Africa, is facing charges of financing the alleged coup.
- AFP
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