Zim 70: No trial date set yet
2004-05-26 15:38
Harare - A court in Zimbabwe on Wednesday failed to set a trial date for 70 men detained in Harare since early March on charges of plotting to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe remanded the men to June 10, when he said he hoped prosecutors would set a trial date. A date had been expected on Wednesday.
Guvamombe also said he expected prosecutors to inform the court on June 10 on the progress made by Zimbabwean investigators into the case of the 70 suspected mercenaries, arrested at Harare International Airport on March 7.
State lawyers claim the men were on their way to overthrow the government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, but the men say they were bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to guard diamond mines.
Earlier on Wednesday, defence lawyer Jonathan Samkange told the court, which has been specially set up at Harare's Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, that there was no reason for the men's continued detention at Chikurubi.
He said his clients were suffering from severe cold and faced water shortages at the prison.
One of the suspects, Marques Alfredo, did not appear in court on Wednesday due to ill health, the court heard.
Mandatory 5-year sentence
"The state should not be taking so long to come up with a trial date" said Samkange, adding that if convicted under the charges they are facing, the worst sentence the men could face was a fine of Z$200 000 (US$37) for "attempting to possess weapons".
"I would urge the court to order them (the prosecutors) to come up with a trial date, or release them" said Samkange.
The detainees, who were arrested when their Boeing 727 landed in Harare to pick up weapons from Zimbabwe's state arms manufacturer, are facing a variety of charges under firearms, immigration, security and aviation laws.
The men - who are mainly Angolans, Namibians and South Africans - were all travelling on South African passports.
State lawyer Lawrence Phiri on Wednesday disputed Samkange's claim that the men were facing light sentences. He said a conviction under Zimbabwe's firearms law carried a mandatory five-year jail term.
Phiri said investigations were not yet complete, which was why he was unable to set a date for trial.
Meanwhile lawyers for the 70 men have made an application in the Pretoria High Court, to try to have the men extradited to South Africa to face trial there.
The men face possible extradition from Zimbabwe to Equatorial Guinea, where another 15 alleged soldiers of fortune were arrested in March on similar charges of plotting to overthrow the government.