A group of suspected mercenaries in a Zimbabwean jail might have to wait until Monday for the outcome of an application to appeal the men’s deportation to South Africa.
Their lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, said Zimbabwe’s chief justice reserved judgement on the matter, which was heard on Wednesday morning.
The chief justice will give his ruling no later than Monday, Griebenow said.
”We will just have to wait and see.”
If the application is granted, the men will have to await the outcome of the appeal before they can be released.
The men were to return home last week after receiving a four-month reduction of their sentences.
They were originally sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment each after being convicted of breaching Zimbabwe’s aviation, immigration, firearm and security laws.
However, Zimbabwe’s Attorney General, Sobuza Gula-Ndebele, filed a last-minute application for leave to appeal against the High Court’s reduction of the sentences.
”The suspension of a sentence for early release of a prisoner only applies to Zimbabwean citizens,” said Gula-Ndebele.
The men were arrested at Harare International airport in March last year in connection with an alleged plot to topple the Equatorial Guinean government. — Sapa