Suspected coup plotter Simon Mann’s fate hangs in the balance as a Zimbabwean court deliberates whether or not to comply with a request from Equatorial Guinea to extradite him to that country, where he would face trial on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.
Mann, who is in prison in Zimbabwe for attempting to purchase weapons without a licence, is due to be released on good behaviour on May 11. His lawyers have argued that if Mann were to be extradited to Equatorial Guinea he would not face a fair trial and would likely face torture and, possibly, the death sentence. Joseph Jagada said in court on Wednesday that the Equatorial Guinean government had agreed to allow a judge appointed by the African Union to conduct Mann’s trial in that country and that it guaranteed that Mann would not face the death sentence.
The trial has been adjourned until May 9.
Mann was arrested in March 2004 along with 66 others, who served sentences of less than a year, on charges of violating Zimbabwe’s immigration laws. Most of the men are South African nationals. Another eleven men suspected of being involved in the coup plot were given lengthy prison sentences by the court in Equatorial Guinea, where they remain.
Jonathan Samkange, Mann’s lawyer, told the Mail & Guardian that, should the magistrate rule in Mann’s favour, the Zimbabwe government has ‘an obligation to release himâ€, even if it chooses to appeal the ruling.
Sources within the Attorney General’s office told the M&G that President Mugabe’s government is eager to have Mann extradited to Equatorial Guinea in exchange for oil and lines of credit. The Zimbabwean government signed an extradition treaty with Equatorial Guinea after the coup plotters were arrested. It has reportedly also clinched an oil deal and lines of credit to support the central bank, which is facing foreign currency shortages, the source said.
Mugabe’s visit to Equatorial Guinea, two days before he arrived in Ghana to celebrate the country’s 50th democracy jubilee, has raised eyebrows. Details of what he discussed with Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the president of Equatorial Guinea, are shrouded in secrecy.
‘Given what Zimbabwe stands to benefit economically as a result of extraditing Mann, chances are high Mugabe will trade him for oil,†a Zanu-PF parliamentarian said. ‘It will be a political decision,†he said.
What has ruffled the government’s feathers during the trial is the testimony by Mugabe’s former chief legal advisor, Andrew Chigovera, who is also a former commissioner of the African Union Commission on Human Rights (ACHR).
Chigovera testified in Mann’s defence that Zimbabwe would violate international law if it extradited Mann to a country where he was likely to be tortured.
‘This government has an obligation to uphold international law and its own laws,†Chigovera told the court when he testified three weeks ago. He told the court that reports indicated that in the trial of the alleged coup plotters in Equatorial Guinea, records were not kept, independent observers were denied entry and there were communication problems in court as the accused did not speak Spanish. He added that what irked Chigovera most was the court’s failure to investigate allegations of torture made by the alleged coup conspirators.
Both Mann’s defence team and the Equatorial Guinean government, which is being represented by the Zimbabwean Attorney General’s office, made their final submissions on Wednesday.