Two South Africans acquitted by a Zimbabwean court of charges related to the alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea are to be questioned on Monday by the South African authorities.
Harry Carlse and Lourens Horn were cleared of trying to buy weapons in Zimbabwe when their British leader, Simon Mann, was convicted. They were freed on Saturday and flew back to South Africa. They will be questioned by the Scorpions investigation unit in Pretoria, which arrested Thatcher last week.
Their lawyer said they expected to be charged under the South African law against mercenary activities. ”They will go to the Scorpions offices in Pretoria for questioning about possible contravention of the Foreign Military Assistance Act,” Alwyn Griebenow said.
They are among the 66 suspects cleared by a Zimbabwean magistrate on Friday of weapons offences. The 64 others face penalties for immigration offences and remain in jail. Simon Mann, who admitted trying to buy weapons, could face a 10-year jail sentence.
Carlse and Horn alleged that they had been tortured in jail. Horn also claimed that he was stripped naked and beaten during interrogations and threatened with electric shocks if he did not answer questions.
Thatcher remains under house arrest in Cape Town on charges of financing the coup plot. He has not yet posted his bail of R2-million.
Two of Mann’s associates, Crause Steyl, a pilot, and James Kershaw, a computer expert, are believed to be giving the South African authorities evidence linking Sir Mark to Mann and the alleged coup.
Ron Wheeldon, spokesperson for Thatcher’s legal team in Cape Town, said yesterday that they had been told to stay away from Steyl and Kershaw.
Steyl is believed to have given details of Thatcher’s investment in an aviation company which had contracts with Mann.
Equatorial Guinea has asked to interview Thatcher in South Africa, and the deputy president said his government was seeking an international warrant for his arrest and hoped to have him extradited for trial. – Guardian Unlimited Â