Coup trial resumes, new accused added

The trial of a group of suspected mercenaries accused of plotting to overthrow the president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea resumed on Tuesday with the court adding eight new names to the list of the accused. As soldiers dressed in combat gear marched 19 handcuffed and shackled suspects back into the courtroom after a two-and-half-month adjournment, the court in the capital, Malabo, heard that the total number of suspects facing trial had been increased to 27, most of them foreigners. The eight new accused include the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Equatorial Guinea sees a web of international intrigue behind a conspiracy to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Prosecutors contend that the conspiracy, involving British and South African former security operatives and businessmen, aimed to replace Obiang at the seat of power with exiled opposition leader Severo Moto, who heads a government-in-exile from his home in Spain. Mark Thatcher, based in South Africa where he faces separate charges, will be tried in absentia in Malabo as will most of the eight new suspects, a senior government official told IRIN by telephone from Malabo. The other new suspects added to the 19 were mainly members of Equatorial Guinea’s government-in-exile, led by Moto, who is accused of masterminding the plan to topple Obiang from his home in Spain, AFP reported, quoting Fabian Nsue Nguema, defence lawyer for the prime suspect in the case, Nick du Toit. Du Toit, a South African arms dealer with a history of dabbling in private security operations across the continent, had so far been the sole suspect to have admitted a role in the alleged plot to remove the leader of Equatorial Guinea, which consists of a square of mainland jungle and a volcanic archipelago. But as the trial opened in the Banapa international conference center in a Malabo suburb, Manuel Ondo Mve, a lawyer who is close to Moto, told IRIN by telephone that du Toit had caused a sensation in court by denying all involvement in the alleged coup. “The big surprise was the change in statements made by the accused, all of whom denied any knowledge of the aim of the operation,” he said. Ange Ichaito, a human rights advocate also speaking from Malabo, said “the accused who took the stand categorically denied all knowledge of a plot.” Meanwhile national radio said the chief judge, Salvador Ondo Nkumu, had called for prison sentences ranging from 25 to 86 years for the defendants bar du Toit. The judge requested the death penalty for the former apartheid-era special forces officer. British government tipped off in January The authorities, the radio added, regretted that London had failed to inform Malabo that a conspiracy was under way. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw last week admitted during parliamentary question time that the government had been tipped off about the plot several weeks before the arrests. Asked by a parliamentarian when the government was first informed of a suspected plot, Straw replied “In late January 2004.” The 19 defendants in court - eight South Africans, six Armenians and five suspects from Equatorial Guinea - were arrested in Malabo on 6 March. They were charged with paving the way for a planeload of South African mercenaries who were arrested 24 hours later in Zimbabwe, allegedly on their way to Equatorial Guinea. In August, all but one of the 67 suspected mercenaries held in Zimbabwe were absolved of attempting to procure arms for the alleged coup in the former Spanish colony, but were sentenced to jail terms of 12 and 16 months for violating immigration laws. On the other hand, former SAS soldier Simon Mann, who is accused of leading the alleged mercenaries, was jailed for seven years after being convicted by a Harare court of illegally trying to buy weapons. During a visit to Malabo earlier this month, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe won a hero’s welcome as “saviour” of the tiny country sandwiched between Gabon and Cameroon. The 51-year-old Thatcher, who has denied involvement in the plot, is facing charges in South Africa of helping to fund the purchase of a helicopter to the tune of 275,000 US dollars. His lawyers say the funds were an investment in an air ambulance scheme. He is due to appear in court on 25-26 November on charges of breaching laws banning South African residents from participating in foreign military action. Equatorial Guinea has also alleged involvement by Greg Wales, a London-based businessman, and Elie Khalil, an international oil dealer of Lebanese origin. Observers within the Equatorial Guinea government and civil groups said in August when the trial was suspended that the adjournment was due to the failure of the prosecution to come up with evidence against du Toit and his co-defendants. "Most of the elements brought forward to prove the mercenaries' guilt have not been able to link them strongly enough to the attempted coup d'etat to impose the maximum penalties," a senior official in the Ministry of Information told IRIN by telephone at the time. Obiang came to power in a 1979 coup in which the then president - his uncle - was executed. For 25 years he has ruled what used to be one of the world’s poorest nations, but became Africa’s third biggest oil producer over the last decade. However, despite the country’s oil wealth, most of its 500,000 inhabitants live in dire poverty.