But Briton Simon Mann, a former Special Air Service (SAS) officer, entered a "not guilty" plea to a charge of illegally purchasing firearms on the second day of the trial held in a makeshift courtroom in the maximum-security Chikurubi prison.
Mann and 69 other men were arrested on March 7 when their plane stopped over in Zimbabwe to pick up weapons from the state arms manufacturer that they claim were to be used to guard a diamond-mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zimbabwe authorities say the men were on their way to Equatorial Guinea to topple veteran President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Their families fear that the men could be extradited to the central African country where they could face the death penalty.
State prosecutors yesterday called Hope Mutize, the marketing manager at Zimbabwe's state arms manufacturer, who testified that Mann and South African Nick du Toit, who has been arrested along with 14 others in Malabo, had approached him in February to buy $180 800 dollars worth of weapons.
"Mr Mann said he wanted to buy some weapons. According to him, he wanted to use the weapons to guard mines in the DR Congo," Mutize testified.
He added that Du Toit had wanted weapons for himself for a different reason.
"Nick said he wanted to supply rebels in the DRC," Mutize said.
The two men put down a deposit for the weapons and paid the remainder at a later stage.
Legal arguments revolved around whether Mann should be tried for purchasing weapons or attempting to purchase weapons, since he did pay for the firearms, but was arrested before he could take delivery.
Mutize said he accompanied Mann and two other men to the airport on March 7 where the plane had landed to pick up the firearms.
"We went to inspect the weapons and it was during this inspection that we were suddenly surrounded by armed men demanding that they come down from the truck. We were handcuffed and bundled out of there."
The men were arrested because they did not have the proper documents to purchase the firearms.
"They (Mann and du Toit) insisted they did not want any paperwork," Mutize said.
A conviction on charges of breaching Zimbabwe's firearms and security laws could lead to a ten-year jail term.
Mann, 51, who has been held in solitary confinement in Chikurubi prison, is linked to mercenary and security outfits set up in the early 1990s.
He and du Toit set up Executive Outcomes, which operated from Pretoria in South Africa and helped the Angolan government protect its oil installations from rebels during the war.
The son of an English cricket captain, Mann – who holds both British and South African passports – was educated at Britain's best-known private school, Eton. He went on for officer training at the prestigious Sandhurst Academy.
He joined the Special Air Service (SAS) and is reported to have served in Cyprus, Germany, Norway, Canada, central America and Northern Ireland before leaving the army in 1981.
Man and the 69 other men were all carrying South African passports at the time of their arrest but their countries of origin include Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.
At the start of the trial on Tuesday, the 67 aboard the plane pleaded guilty to breaching immigration and aviation laws, but they still face charges of breaching the firearms and security acts.
The trial is to resume today. – Sapa-AFP.
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