Seventy suspected mercenaries arrested in Zimbabwe three months ago on charges of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea briefly appeared before a magistrate court on Thursday but were not given a trial date.
The court failed for the second time in two weeks to set a date for the trial and instead ordered the men to return to court on June 24.
Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe and defence lawyers urged the prosecution to ensure that a trial date is set at the next hearing.
”Our clients have been on remand for a long time. We understand that investigations are almost complete and hopefully on the 24th they will be given a trial date,” said South African defence lawyer Francois Joubert.
”Prosecutors are urged to come up with a trial date,” said Guvamombe.
Sixty-nine suspected mercenaries turned up in the makeshift courtroom at a maximum-security prison on the outskirts of the capital but one of them was in a prison hospital where he is reportedly receiving treament for a severe sore throat.
Another defence lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, said the failure to set a trial date for the 70, who were arrested on March 8 at Harare international airport as they were allegedly en route to Equatorial Guinea to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, showed that the state had no case against the men.
”There is no case, that is why they have not given them a trial date. If there was a case they would have been given a trial date by now,” Samkange told reporters outside the courtroom.
If convicted, the maximum penalty that the men could face is a fine of Z$200 000 (about R240) for trying to obtain weapons, according to Samkange.
Under Zimbabwe law, a defendant can be held in custody for a maximum of six months. If no trial takes place, charges must be dropped.
The Pretoria High court on Wednesday turned down an application by families of the 70 men to force President Thabo Mbeki’s government to seek their extradition to South Africa.
The men face possible extradition to Equatorial Guinea, where they could be sentenced to death along with 15 other alleged mercenaries who have been arrested on similiar charges in the capital, Malabo.
Joubert told reporters that he was aware of an application to extradite them to the oil-rich West African country.
”There is an extradition application and a letter from the [Zimbabwean] Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommending the extradition,” said Joubert.
A Zimbabwe official said last month that President Robert Mugabe had agreed to extradite the 70 men to face trial in Equatorial Guinea but there has not been a public announcement.
The men — who are mainly Angolans, Namibians and South Africans — were all travelling on South African passports when they were arrested.
The South African government has been under pressure from the detainees’ families and human rights groups to help the 70 men, who have denied the coup charges and contend they were on their way to the Democratic Republic of Congo to guard a mine. — Sapa-AFP
‘Mercenaries’ to stand trial in Zim