Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, on Thursday formally pleaded guilty to involvement in last year’s failed Equatorial Guinea coup. He has agreed to a R3-million fine as well as a four-year suspended jail term.
The plea and sentence are contained in a plea-bargain agreement with the Scorpions, which was made an order of court by Cape Town Judge Abe Motala on Thursday morning.
”There is no price too high for me to be reunited with my family, and I am sure all of you who are husbands and fathers would agree with that,” Thatcher said on Thursday after being fined.
Standing outside the court and toying with a set of worry beads, he said that part of the agreement was that he not make statements on the agreement except for an official statement issued by his legal team.
Part of this statement read: ”It should be noted that Sir Mark was not charged with any involvement in the attempted coup d’état in Equatorial Guinea. The plea bargain was entered into solely as a result of his financing of the charter of a helicopter in circumstances where he should have exercised more caution.”
Thatcher to cooperate
Scorpions spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said Thatcher has pledged to cooperate fully with continuing investigations into South African involvement into coup bid.
Thatcher’s lawyer’s statement confirmed this, saying: ”As will appear from the agreement, he will continue to cooperate, to the limited extent of his knowledge of the matter.”
Asked if Thatcher is now able to leave South Africa, Ngwema said: ”There is nothing in the agreement that limits him, but he is going to cooperate with our investigation and that’s what we are happy with.”
Thatcher’s passport was confiscated after his arrest but will be returned to him.
It was reported that his ailing mother, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, had to visit him in Cape Town at Christmas instead of her son travelling to the United Kingdom to be with her.
Associated Press reported a spokesperson for his mother saying: ”She is very relieved that matters have now been settled and that the worry of these last few months is now over.”
His wife, Dianne, and two children are reportedly in the United States, and Thatcher plans to join them there.
Thatcher asked for transport help
According to the plea-bargain agreement, he said his friend Simon Mann told him in November 2003 that he (Mann) was becoming involved in a transport venture in West Africa.
Mann asked whether Thatcher could help him by chartering a Bell Jet Ranger III for this purpose. Thatcher told Mann that he would be interested in becoming involved.
In early December 2003, Thatcher became aware of two Alouette II helicopters available for sale, and told Mann.
Mann asked Thatcher to contact Crause Steyl, who operated his own air-ambulance company and who, according to Mann, had the ”necessary experience” to give advice.
Thatcher met Steyl at Lanseria airport, Johannesburg, where they discussed cost options with reference to the Alouette and other options that might be available.
Thatcher said he later began to doubt Mann’s true intentions and suspected Mann might be planning mercenary activity in West Africa.
”The accused began to suspect that the helicopter might in fact be intended for use in such mercenary activity.
”Despite his misgivings, the accused decided to invest money in the charter of the helicopter. In fact, Mann and Steyl did intend to use the helicopter in mercenary activity,” read the plea bargain.
Shortly before January 9 2004, Thatcher was asked by Mann to make a payment of $20 000 to reserve the helicopter, which he did.
More charges in Equatorial Guinea
Thatcher also faces charges in Equatorial Guinea, where 19 other defendants are already on trial in connection with an alleged plot last year to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled Africa’s third-largest oil producer for the past 25 years.
Equatorial Guinea alleges Thatcher and other mainly British financiers worked with the tiny country’s opposition figures, scores of African mercenaries and six Armenian pilots in a takeover attempt foiled in March. Thatcher maintains he played no part in the alleged conspiracy.
Thatcher said he had feared an extradition request before Christmas intended to put him with the convicted plotters serving sentences in the country’s notorious Black Beach jail.
But sources close to the regime said on Wednesday night that an extradition request is unlikely to be pursued.
However, renewed efforts are expected to compel him to answer questions from Equatorial Guinea, and some of the voluminous evidence collected by South Africa’s investigators may be shared with Obiang’s lawyers.
The Cape Town High Court ordered Thatcher to answer questions submitted by Equatorial Guinea under oath in November, but that appearance was postponed until February 18 to give his lawyers a chance to appeal the ruling.
Thatcher’s trial on charges of helping to finance the alleged plot was postponed until April 8 for further investigation.
Meanwhile, 70 other alleged mercenaries were arrested on March 7 at Harare International airport.
The group had allegedly stopped off in Harare to purchase weapons to be used in an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.
It’s a pity and a shame
Alwyn Griebenow, the lawyer for the men being held in Zimbabwe, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Thursday that the important aspect of Thatcher’s plea bargain was that he had only been fined, and not imprisoned. He said this had set a precedent, which may apply to his clients one they return to South Africa.
”All along, my clients said he was involved. It’s a pity that the investors walk away with big fines and the people that had to do the dirty work are still in prison. It’s a pity and a shame. But good luck to him [Thatcher].”
Marge Payne, whose husband piloted the aircraft to Zimbabwe, said the Thatcher plea bargain seems unfair when ”your man is still behind bars”.
”I’m happy that he [Thatcher] got away with it. He can now go back to his wife and family and carry on with his life. It seems unfair, but one can’t be bitter and twisted about it. That’s the way life goes. My husband was not a soldier or a mercenary. He was just piloting the plane.” — Sapa, Sapa-AP