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'Prison guards abused Zim 70'
23/06/2004 20:31 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe state lawyer, Lawrence Phiri, called 12 prison guards to the front of the court at the trial of 70 suspected mercenaries arrested in Zimbabwe, saying they were accused of assaulting some of the suspected mercenaries.
"These gentlemen are charged with assault of some of the mercenaries" said Phiri.
Zimbabwe's Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa ordered a probe into the incident in April in which eighteen of the suspected mercenaries were allegedly beaten and doused with water by the guards.
The 12 were ordered to appear for trial on July 13.
The trial of 70 suspected mercenaries arrested in Zimbabwe for allegedly plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea will begin on July 19, the judge said on Wednesday.
The 70 men were arrested on March 7 when their plane was making a stopover in Harare to pick up weapons, allegedly en route to Equatorial Guinea to topple long-time President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
"You come back to court on the 19th of July at nine in the morning for trial," Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe told the defendants.
The men, who are being held and tried at a maximum security prison outside Harare, deny plotting a coup and maintain they were on their way to the Democratic Republic of Congo to guard a diamond mine.
Most of the men are from South Africa, Namibia and Angola, although they were all travelling on South African passports.
Lawyers representing the families of the alleged soldiers of fortune failed earlier this month to force the South African government to seek their extradition from Zimbabwe and put them on trial at home.
The families are seeking to appeal that decision before the constitutional court.
A handful of family members were present at Wednesday's hearing, and the wife of one of the detained men said a trial date had not done much to relieve her anxiety.
"I'm still frightened. I don't know what to expect. There are so many rumours flying around" she said.
If convicted, the men could be fined Z$200 000 (US$37) for attempting to obtain weapons or sentenced to five years in jail.
- AFP
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