A court in Zimbabwe on Friday ordered prison authorities to remove handcuffs and shackles from 70 suspected mercenaries being held on charges of plotting to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, a lawyer said.
The men — all of them South African citizens who were arrested in March when their plane stopped in Harare — have been kept in shackles for the past week after the Zimbabwe government said it had uncovered a plot by the men to break out of jail.
A request to have the shackles removed was granted on Friday by Judge Tedius Karwi.
”It means our clients are entitled to have the handcuffs and leg irons removed,” he said, adding that the order takes effect immediately.
The men deny they were planning to topple Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and insist they were on their way to guard diamond mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
They were arrested on March 7 when their Boeing 727 landed at Harare International airport to refuel and pick up an assortment of weapons from the state-run Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI).
Last week Obiang held lengthy talks with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on the possible extradition of the 70 men to face trial in the oil-rich Central African state, where 15 other alleged mercenaries are being held on similar charges.
An official said Mugabe has agreed to hand over the 70 men, who face the death penalty in Equatorial Guinea if they are convicted of coup plotting. — Sapa-AFP