Sixty-seven suspected mercenaries along with their three-man flight crew completed formalities on Monday ahead of a court appearance on immigration and firearms charges, their lawyers said.
The suspects, accused of planning a coup in the tiny, oil-rich African nation of Equatorial Guinea, gave sworn statements to police in which they confirmed they understood the accusations against them, a requirement before they can be formally charged, attorney Jonathan Samkange said.
They will be photographed and fingerprinted on Tuesday before making their first court appearance on Wednesday, he said.
The flight crew and 64 passengers from a number of African countries were arrested on March 7 when their ageing Boeing 727 stopped at Harare International airport. Three alleged accomplices, accused of trying to procure weapons from the state arms manufacturer, were detained as they waited to meet the plane.
Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge has said the men could face the death penalty. But none of the charges mentioned so far are capital offences.
The flight crew and passengers are accused of violating immigration laws by making a false declaration about the number of people aboard the plane and its destination.
They also face charges of ”attempting to conspire to acquire firearms,” while their alleged accomplices are accused of attempting to acquire the weapons, Samkange said.
The state-run Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece, reported on Monday the group could also be charged under a little-known law banning activities of ”foreign subversive organisations” in Zimbabwe.
A conviction would carry a penalty of up to five years in jail, or a more severe punishment as decreed by President Robert Mugabe on the advice of law officers, the newspaper said.
The government has also said it is investigating whether it has jurisdiction to prosecute the suspects for conspiring to destabilise a sovereign government other than Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe investigators allege that Equatorial Guinea’s rebel leader, Severo Moto, offered the suspects $1,8-million and oil rights for helping to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma.
Fifteen other suspected mercenaries were arrested in Equatorial Guinea last week, also on suspicion of plotting a coup.
The suspects claim they were headed to the Democratic Republic of Congo to work at mining operations, according to their lawyers. They include 20 South Africans, 18 Namibians, 23 Angolans, two Congolese and a Zimbabwean traveling on a South African passport.
Zimbabwe has claimed the CIA, together with British and Spanish intelligence agencies, had persuaded Equatorial Guinea’s police and military chiefs to cooperate with the coup plotters by promising them Cabinet posts in the new government.
US officials have dismissed the allegations as absurd. British officials also rejected the claims on Monday.
Zimbabwe says details of the coup plot came from one of the alleged co-conspirators who was detained as he waited to meet the plane. He has been identified as Simon Mann, a former British special forces member.
Zimbabwe television has reported security authorities are also holding two other members of Mann’s advance group, identified as Simon Witherspoon and Nick Du Toit. – Sapa-AP