A court in Zimbabwe on Thursday adjourned until next month the trial of 70 men arrested in Harare on charges of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea.
Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe granted a request from state prosecutor Stephen Musona to adjourn the trial until August 18 and said that proceedings will wrap up at about that time.
”When you come on the 18th we should move to finality,” Guvamombe told the court shortly before adjourning the case.
The 70 men, most of whom were arrested aboard a Boeing 727 that stopped in Harare on March 7 to pick up weapons from Zimbabwe’s state-run arms manufacturer, have been charged with breaking Zimbabwe’s firearms, security, aviation and immigration laws.
The long-awaited trial opened on Tuesday with 67 of the men pleading guilty to minor charges of violating aviation and immigration laws and the judge accepted their plea.
The 67 men await sentencing, which could result in a minor fine or a short jail sentence.
The court on Thursday dropped firearms and security charges against pilot Jaap Steyl and two other crew members.
And on Wednesday, the alleged leader of the group, Briton Simon Mann, pleaded guilty to attempting to possess dangerous weapons in Harare, but denied having purchased more than $180 000-worth of firearms illegally. — Sapa-AFP