Constitutional court rejects mercenaries' appeal to go home

South Africa's highest court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by 70 alleged mercenaries seeking extradition from Zimbabwe.

The men were arrested on board a plane that landed at Harare International airport and are being held on charges of conspiring to topple the president of Equatorial Guinea. All of them hold South African passports.

Since their arrest in March, the group has been trying to get the South African authorities to intervene to stop their extradition to the West African state once their trial in Harare is completed.

They claim they run the risk of the death penalty in Equatorial Guinea if found guilty, and contend the South African government has a duty to protect the human rights of its citizens abroad - South Africa does not have capital punishment.

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson on Wednesday reportedly said that although the court was divided on some of the issues raised, its 10 judges were united in the view that the men's claim to their rights under the South African Constitution was misconceived.

"They also hold that the claim that steps be taken as a matter of urgency by the South African government to seek the extradition of the applicants from Zimbabwe (to South Africa) must be dismissed," the South African Press Agency reported Chaskalson as saying.

Defence attorney Francois Joubert told Reuters news agency he would study the ruling before deciding on further steps. "(We plan) to continue doing everything we can to protect (our clients') interests," he said.

The alleged mercenaries have maintained that they were on their way to do security work for diamond mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The trial resumes on 18 August.