So far only charges relating to immigration, firearms and aviation
offences have been considered against 67 people who have been
warned of facing the death penalty if found to be mercenaries in a
coup plot against the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Most were on board an aircraft that Zimbabwe authorities impounded at Harare airport on Sunday.
They are South African, Angolan, Namibian, Democratic Republic of Congo nationals.
Zimbabwe's acting attorney-general Bharat Patel, speaking on state radio, did not refer to any laws dealing with mercenaries, treason or national security.
But he said final details of the charges "have yet to be worked out with the relevant law enforcement agencies".
He named contraventions under the Aviation Act, the Firearms Act and also in relation to immigration laws. These are regarded as relatively minor offences carrying penalties of fines or short terms in prison.
Patel made no reference to the extensive battery of national security legislation dealing with attempted insurrection, terrorism, treason, espionage or mercenaries.
The Boeing 727-100 in which the group were travelling was impounded on Sunday after the pilot allegedly made a "false declaration" that it was carrying no cargo and only seven passengers.
Legal experts said Patel's reference to the Firearms Act was the first indication that any of the group may have possessed any weapons.
Until now, officials have been saying no weaponry was found on the aircraft. What they described as "military equipment" on board appeared to refer to brightly coloured rucksacks, boots and sleeping bags.
In Malabo, the island capital of the Equatorial Guinea, South African Nick du Toit, believed to have belonged to the now defunct Executive Outcomes company that specialised in mercenary activity, reportedly confessed he was part of an advance party planned to abduct President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and force him into exile.
SABC radio news reports that Equatorial Guinea's deputy foreign minister, Jose Esomo Micha flew to Pretoria to thank South Africa personally for alerting his country of an impending plot to overthrow the government.
Meanwhile, the SA Police Service is also probing the facts surrounding the Boeing's arrival in South Africa on Saturday and its reportedly illegal departure the next day for Harare, Bujumbura in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, spokesperson Senior Superintendent Selby Bokaba said.
Logo Logistics Limited, the British-based employer of the men arrested in Harare, was arranging legal representation for them yesterday, senior executive Charles Burrow told Sapa from London by phone.
He would not comment at all on the governments of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea describing the men as mercenaries.
While the South Africans arrested in both Harare and Malabo would receive customary consular service, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said that her department was in no rush to assist them.
"They are not exactly innocent travellers finding themselves in a difficult situation," she said.
This week, Zimbabwe Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said the group of 64 and an advance party of three in Harare were destined for Equatorial Guinea to join others in an attempt to overthrow the government.
Mohadi claimed they had been aided by the MI6, the foreign section of British intelligence, the US' Central Intelligence Agency and Spanish intelligence.
Zimbabwe 's foreign minister Stan Mudenge also said on Wednesday that the 67 would "face the severest punishment available in our states, including capital punishment" if found guilty of being "foreign mercenaries".
Meanwhile, President Thabo Mbeki had a midnight meeting with a delegation from Equatorial Guinea regarding the alleged mercenaries arrested in that country, he said yesterday.
Speaking while on an election campaign trail in Mafikeng, Mbeki said that country had asked South Africa for help in ensuring that the trial of the arrested men be transparent and fair.
"It was a direct request," Mbeki said.
He said South Africa would not be doing the same in Zimbabwe simply because the Zimbabwean government had not made the same direct request.
Mbeki said some of the men arrested in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea were known to the South African security organisations and some were former SA Defence Force members.
He said South Africa would definitely charge any one of the men who was suspected of contravening the Foreign Military Assistance Act.
In Equatorial Guinea, the captured Du Toit also reportedly confessed that no murder was intended in the plot to remove President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who himself came to power in a coup against his uncle in 1979.
"It wasn't a question of taking the life of the head of state but of spiriting him away, taking him to Spain and forcing him into exile and then installing the government in exile of Secero Moto Nsa," said Du Toit.
In Equatorial Guinea - a former Spanish colony – the president's family has had a firm grip on power since independence in 1968.
In December, police in neighbouring Cameroon said President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo's nephew, a senior army officer, accused of running off with the army payroll, had been arrested and sent home.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo's authoritarian rule was reported to be beset by family problems, following the attempted suicide of the president's half brother and the disappearance of Nguema Mba, along with several other officers.
On August 3, 1979, Obiang Nguema, a member of a clan that has held a grip on power since the 1960s, led a successful coup d'etat in 1979 against his uncle, Macias Nguema, the first post-independence president. Macias and five others were executed by firing squad.
Obiang was returned to office for the third time in 2002 with 97% of the vote in an election widely condemned as rigged.
The election was boycotted by the opposition amid widespread reports of arbitrary arrests and detention and torture of political opponents.
December's family squabble coincided with a sudden windfall of wealth in Equatorial Guinea, enjoyed by a privileged few.
The country is ranked third among African oil producers behind Nigeria and Angola. – Sapa.
Most were on board an aircraft that Zimbabwe authorities impounded at Harare airport on Sunday.
They are South African, Angolan, Namibian, Democratic Republic of Congo nationals.
Zimbabwe's acting attorney-general Bharat Patel, speaking on state radio, did not refer to any laws dealing with mercenaries, treason or national security.
But he said final details of the charges "have yet to be worked out with the relevant law enforcement agencies".
He named contraventions under the Aviation Act, the Firearms Act and also in relation to immigration laws. These are regarded as relatively minor offences carrying penalties of fines or short terms in prison.
Patel made no reference to the extensive battery of national security legislation dealing with attempted insurrection, terrorism, treason, espionage or mercenaries.
The Boeing 727-100 in which the group were travelling was impounded on Sunday after the pilot allegedly made a "false declaration" that it was carrying no cargo and only seven passengers.
Legal experts said Patel's reference to the Firearms Act was the first indication that any of the group may have possessed any weapons.
Until now, officials have been saying no weaponry was found on the aircraft. What they described as "military equipment" on board appeared to refer to brightly coloured rucksacks, boots and sleeping bags.
In Malabo, the island capital of the Equatorial Guinea, South African Nick du Toit, believed to have belonged to the now defunct Executive Outcomes company that specialised in mercenary activity, reportedly confessed he was part of an advance party planned to abduct President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and force him into exile.
SABC radio news reports that Equatorial Guinea's deputy foreign minister, Jose Esomo Micha flew to Pretoria to thank South Africa personally for alerting his country of an impending plot to overthrow the government.
Meanwhile, the SA Police Service is also probing the facts surrounding the Boeing's arrival in South Africa on Saturday and its reportedly illegal departure the next day for Harare, Bujumbura in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, spokesperson Senior Superintendent Selby Bokaba said.
Logo Logistics Limited, the British-based employer of the men arrested in Harare, was arranging legal representation for them yesterday, senior executive Charles Burrow told Sapa from London by phone.
He would not comment at all on the governments of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea describing the men as mercenaries.
While the South Africans arrested in both Harare and Malabo would receive customary consular service, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said that her department was in no rush to assist them.
"They are not exactly innocent travellers finding themselves in a difficult situation," she said.
This week, Zimbabwe Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said the group of 64 and an advance party of three in Harare were destined for Equatorial Guinea to join others in an attempt to overthrow the government.
Mohadi claimed they had been aided by the MI6, the foreign section of British intelligence, the US' Central Intelligence Agency and Spanish intelligence.
Zimbabwe 's foreign minister Stan Mudenge also said on Wednesday that the 67 would "face the severest punishment available in our states, including capital punishment" if found guilty of being "foreign mercenaries".
Meanwhile, President Thabo Mbeki had a midnight meeting with a delegation from Equatorial Guinea regarding the alleged mercenaries arrested in that country, he said yesterday.
Speaking while on an election campaign trail in Mafikeng, Mbeki said that country had asked South Africa for help in ensuring that the trial of the arrested men be transparent and fair.
"It was a direct request," Mbeki said.
He said South Africa would not be doing the same in Zimbabwe simply because the Zimbabwean government had not made the same direct request.
Mbeki said some of the men arrested in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea were known to the South African security organisations and some were former SA Defence Force members.
He said South Africa would definitely charge any one of the men who was suspected of contravening the Foreign Military Assistance Act.
In Equatorial Guinea, the captured Du Toit also reportedly confessed that no murder was intended in the plot to remove President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who himself came to power in a coup against his uncle in 1979.
"It wasn't a question of taking the life of the head of state but of spiriting him away, taking him to Spain and forcing him into exile and then installing the government in exile of Secero Moto Nsa," said Du Toit.
In Equatorial Guinea - a former Spanish colony – the president's family has had a firm grip on power since independence in 1968.
In December, police in neighbouring Cameroon said President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo's nephew, a senior army officer, accused of running off with the army payroll, had been arrested and sent home.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo's authoritarian rule was reported to be beset by family problems, following the attempted suicide of the president's half brother and the disappearance of Nguema Mba, along with several other officers.
On August 3, 1979, Obiang Nguema, a member of a clan that has held a grip on power since the 1960s, led a successful coup d'etat in 1979 against his uncle, Macias Nguema, the first post-independence president. Macias and five others were executed by firing squad.
Obiang was returned to office for the third time in 2002 with 97% of the vote in an election widely condemned as rigged.
The election was boycotted by the opposition amid widespread reports of arbitrary arrests and detention and torture of political opponents.
December's family squabble coincided with a sudden windfall of wealth in Equatorial Guinea, enjoyed by a privileged few.
The country is ranked third among African oil producers behind Nigeria and Angola. – Sapa.
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