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News and Information
Freed Coup Suspects to Face Charges in SA
| August 31, 2004 |
Business Day (Johannesburg)
August 31, 2004
Posted to the web August 31, 2004
Jonathan Katzenellenbogen , International Affairs Editor With AP
Johannesburg
TWO alleged Equatorial Guinea coup plotters released last Friday by Zimbabwean courts were grilled for nearly three hours by the Scorpions yesterday, and are likely to be charged next week for allegedly contravening SA's laws against mercenary activity.
National Prosecution Authority spokesman Makhosini Nkosi said the two men , Harry Carlse and Lourens Horne, may be charged under the Foreign Military Assistance Act.
If charged, they will bring to three the number of people arrested in SA over the coup plot.
Mark Thatcher, the Cape Town-based son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was arrested last Wednesday on charges of bankrolling the alleged attempt to unseat the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Nkosi said that he could not disclose details of the investigation , but that "it is very likely we are going to be arresting other people." He said the Scorpions were co-operating with authorities in Equatorial Guinea and in Zimbabwe.
He also declined to reveal the nature of the co-operation, but media reports yesterday said that the Equatorial Guinea government was actively seeking to extradite the three men for prosecution in the oil-rich central African country.
Carlse and Horn, who say they were tortured while in Zimbabwe, were among the 66 men acquitted of firearms charges .
Alleged coup leader Simon Mann, a close associate of Thatcher, was found guilty on firearms charges and could face 10 years in prison.
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Source: Allafrica.com |
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