New charge for 'dogs of war'
16/03/2004 23:34  - (SA)  

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Kodzevu Sithole

Harare - Zimbabwe has added a new charge of "conspiracy to assassinate the president of Equatorial Guinea through a coup" against the 70 men claimed to be mercenaries and who are being held in the capital.

Jonathan Samkange, legal representative of the group, said the new charge surfaced on Tuesday. The group is expected to appear in court for the first time on Wednesday.

The men - including South Africans, Angolans and Namibians - were arrested more than a week ago when police grounded their Boeing 727-100 plane at Harare Airport.

Samkange said: "We spent the entire day yesterday (Monday) and part of today taking fingerprints and photos and, just when we thought we were ready for a court appearance, the new charge surfaced.

"Therefore, we had to start taking statements again from scratch to reply to the new charge."

The Zimbabwe government already has charged the men with contravening firearms and immigration laws because they allegedly tried to buy weapons illegally and did not report to immigration officials when they entered the country.

'A long list of laws'

Samkange said, however, he believed the new charge was a civil one and, against this background, Zimbabwe did not have the right to accuse the men of something that was supposed to happen in another country.

"Zimbabwe cannot find someone guilty for a remote-controlled offence."

The state-run newspaper, The Herald, reported on Monday that Zimbabwe had a "long list of laws", including the so-called Foreign Subversive Activities Act, the controversial order and safety law and other international laws that Zimbabwe was signatory to, under which the men could be charged.

The Herald quoted legal experts as saying that President Robert Mugabe could also exercise his special presidential powers to change whatever sentence was handed down on the men.

Samkange said despite the "disappointment" because of the new charge, the men were generally in good spirits: "They are taking it in their stride."

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