The Zimbabwean government appears determined to extradite suspected mercenary Simon Mann to Equatorial Guinea, however, it is being hamstrung by the country’s inefficient legal system.
Mann’s fate is still hanging in the balance and lawyers in the Attorney General’s office this week confirmed that “they were putting their papers together, to ensure [the] Mann case is hurriedly dealt with before his freedom day in six months’ time”. Mann, who is serving a four-year jail term at Harare’s Chikurubi Maximum Security prison after being convicted of illegally buying weapons is due for release on May 11 next year.
A former British military commander of the special forces unit, Mann is accused of buying the weapons to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. He has denied the accusations, saying that he and 64 men arrested in Zimbabwe were on their way to guard a diamond mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a ruling on August 31 a magistrate said the Attorney General’s office must produce key documents before the court could consider the extradition request. These included trial records for Mann’s associate Nick du Toit, who is serving a 34-year jail term in Equatorial Guinea; a summary of Mann’s case from his investigating officer; a certified copy of his indictment from the Attorney General’s office, and the extradition treaty signed between the Zimbabwe government and Equatorial Guinea.
The magistrate also wants the Attorney General to furnish the court with information about the possibility of Mann having a free and fair trial in Equatorial Guinea should he be extradited there.
“None of these records were available when the [extradition] case was heard,” said Jonathan Samkange, Mann’s lawyer. “[The magistrate] found that their papers were in shambles, despite having had close to two years to prepare the case.”Â
Samkange said conditions for Mann to have a free and fair trial “are non-existent” in Equatorial Guinea. “There is no record of others convicted and sentenced for participating in the alleged coup attempt having undergone a trial, except for Du Toit. They were not represented by lawyers of their choice, neither was the International Bar Association or Amnesty International allowed in to witness the trial.”