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Simon Mann goes to jail
10/09/2004 13:31 - (SA)
Harare - Briton Simon Mann, the alleged mastermind behind a plot to stage a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, has been sentenced on Friday to seven years in jail by a Zimbabwe court.
Mann admitted trying to order assault rifles, grenades, anti-tank rocket launchers and other weapons from Zimbabwe Defence Industries.
A group of 65 other suspected mercenaries was sentenced to 12 months in jail while the two men who flew the plane to Harare in March to pick up weapons were given 16-month jail sentences.
Mann was convicted two weeks ago on charges of attempting to illegally purchase weapons that prosecutors argued were to be used to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in Malabo.
"The accused was the author of the whole transaction. He was caught while trying to take the firearms out of the country," said Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe as he handed down the sentence.
He said the offences "were well planned and well executed and that must be reflected in the penalty."
- AFP
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