A group of alleged mercenaries who were recently released from Zimbabwe will most likely have to spend time behind bars in South Africa, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Thursday.
Spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said the NPA wants the Regulation of the Foreign Military Assistance Act to be enforced, including a prison term as part of the agreed sentence.
He did not want to comment further on the matter.
The NPA said last month that it planned to prosecute the 64 alleged mercenaries, including the 61 who returned to South Africa in May.
Nkosi said the decision to charge the men followed investigations into whether they had contravened the Act.
He denied media reports that the men would be fined and given suspended sentences, describing these as ”just speculation”.
”These people are just making speculations. They are drawing conclusions from the fact that the two alleged mercenaries who returned to the country last year were given a R75 000 fine and a four-year sentence suspended for five [years],” said Nkosi.
The group returned to South Africa after spending more than a year in Chikurubi maximum-security prison outside Harare.
They were convicted of violating Zimbabwe’s immigration, aviation, firearms and security laws.
The charges were related to an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. — Sapa