Zim to send suspects to EG
2004-04-28 07:16
Harare - Zimbabwe's government said on Tuesday it had revised its extradition policy in order to extradite 70 suspected mercenaries accused of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea.
An official notice said Zimbabwe drafted an extradition treaty for the first time with Equatorial Guinea, effective immediately. The notice meant the 70 suspects could be sent to Equatorial Guinea for trial on allegations of plotting the overthrow that country's government.
The official "statutory instrument" said it amended Zimbabwe's existing extradition agreements with several other countries to include Equatorial Guinea.
The 70 suspects include South Africans, Namibians, Angolans, Congolese, a Zimbabwean and a British national.
Most of them are former members of South Africa's apartheid-era military forces.
The suspects appeared in a makeshift court at the maximum-security Chikurubi prison outside Harare on Tuesday. Some reporters were barred entry by prison guards, despite a court order saying the hearing was to be public.
A snake with two skins
Prison guards said they were instructed not to admit an AP reporter - a Zimbabwean freelancer who they said could not be both a member of the public and a reporter and whom one prison official described as "a snake with two skins".
Defence attorneys had said they were to ask for the release of some of the suspects on grounds they broke no laws in Zimbabwe. They were also to protest against the refusal of entry to reporters and ordinary spectators normally allowed into regular courts.
Prosecutors had said they could not guarantee security to bring the suspects to an open court in Harare, but a High Court judge allowed hearings to be held in Chikurubi prison, 30km north of Harare, as long as they were open to all visitors willing to go through lengthy security checks before entry.
Zimbabwe's prosecutors allege that Equatorial Guinea's Spanish-based rebel leader Sever Moto offered the group US$1.8m and oil rights to overthrow the government in the former Spanish colony. Another 14 suspected mercenaries are in custody in the west African country.
Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma has also alleged the suspects were plotting to overthrow the governments of Sao Tome and Principe and Congo.
The suspects held in Zimbabwe deny the accusations, saying they were headed to security jobs at mining operations in eastern Congo. Court papers indicate some had contracts for that work.
They face five charges, including conspiring to carry out a coup with weapons purchased in Zimbabwe. They are also accused of violating Zimbabwe's immigration, firearms and security laws. If convicted, they could face life in prison.
Human rights groups say they believe at least one of the suspects held in custody in Equatorial Guinea has been tortured to death.
Equatorial Guinea is ranked by rights groups as one of the world's most repressive countries.
- AP