Sixty-eight suspected mercenaries including former British soldier Simon Mann begin serving jail sentences this week in Zimbabwe on various convictions related to an alleged plot to stage a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.
But analysts and observers who followed the six-week trial of the men say the proceedings failed to shed light on the alleged plot and that very little hard evidence was introduced in court.
”There seems to have been a coup arrangement, but the evidence that was produced in Zimbabwe could not have pinned down anyone in terms of a coup,” said William Nhara, an analyst.
”I think the trial failed to establish the nature of the coup in terms of the facts available,” he said.
Human rights lawyer and commentator Brian Kagoro said: ”It would appear difficult to prove the case of a coup plot just from the evidence in the trial”.
Although in the flurry that followed the days after their arrest in March politicians claimed the men would face coup charges, including those of ”conspiring to commit international terrorism,” the men ended up facing less serious charges.
The men were charged and convicted of crimes under Zimbabwe’s laws, including conspiring to possess dangerous weapons and breaching aviation and immigration laws.
Zimbabwe accused them of plotting to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema’s 25-year regime in the small central African state of Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony.
But the group was adamant that they were going to the Democratic Republic of Congo to guard diamond mines.
The plan, acording to Zimbabwe, was to remove Obiang and replace him with exiled opposition leader Severo Moto.
Prosecutors argued the men could not have possibly been going on ordinary security duties considering ‘suspicious’ the manner they behaved at Harare airport, the nature of the equipment they were supposed to collect and some of the documents and supplies found on their plane.
The prosecution claimed during the trial that it had a copy of a contract signed between Mann and Moto, to topple Obiang, but the contract was never produced in court.
Prosecutor Lawrence Phiri said Mann was to receive $15-million in payment while his followers were each due to receive three million dollars, but did not specify what the contract was for.
”We have a written contract between Simon Mann and one Severo Moto,” said Phiri.
Among the only other documents produced in court by the state were maps of Malabo and a hand-written note with instructions to the crew that cabin lights were to turned off at Harare airport and that passengers were to remain quiet and pretend they were sleeping, to avoid detection by airport authorities.
The state also tried to link the group to the alleged coup be making reference to the weapons Mann bought from the state arms manufacturer, Zimbabwe Defence Industries, which included 61 AK-47s, 150 hand grenades, rocket launchers and mortars.
”These items are exclusively of military use, not for a security company,” prosecutor Phiri argued during the trial. Analysts also said some of the weapons were too heavy for use by a security firm.
State witness and senior police officer Clemence Madzingo, who led police investigations after the plane was impounded, argued in court that some of the goods, uniforms and equipment found on the plane ”resembled military [gear] … were specifically for a mission”.
Phiri also said some items found on the plane such as camouflage cream and survival kits could not possibly be for use by security guards.
Commentators said the only way the group in Harare could have been linked to the coup was after the arrest of 15 others in Malabo, who were suspected to have been the advance team, and recently the alleged involvement of Mark Thatcher.
”I think there is now more than clear evidence that there was a coup plot, although it suggests the coup was poorly planned,” said University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Joseph Kurebwa.
Analysts ruled out political interference from either South Africa or Zimbabwe in the trial.
But Zimbabwe had to be seen to be firm because had the plan succeeded with weapons originating from Harare, its reputation would have been severely dented. – Sapa-AFP