A Zimbabwean court on Friday ruled that the 70 suspected mercenaries charged with plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea could receive food from outside sources to supplement their prison rations.
Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe reached the ruling after the defence team complained that the 70 men had been denied access, on security grounds, to food from their relatives and friends since Friday last week.
”It is clear to me that unconvicted prisoners are entitled to receive food from outside. As to the amount and quantities of food, it remains at the discretion of the prison officers,” Guvamombe said.
Defence lawyer Francois Joubert of South Africa had earlier argued that his clients — most of whom are from Angola, South Africa and Namibia — were not used to the food they were given in prison and therefore required supplements.
The men were arrested in Harare on March 7 allegedly on their way to stage a coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.
Twelve prison officers accused of assaulting the suspected mercenaries appeared in court on Thursday and were remanded in custody until May 27. – Sapa-AFP