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Equatorial Guinea court to rule in coup plot case
By Estelle Shirbon
Reuters, UK
Nov 26 2004
MALABO (Reuters) - An Equatorial Guinea court is due to give its
verdict on 14 suspected foreign mercenaries accused of plotting a coup
in the tiny country, sub-Saharan Africa's third biggest oil producer.
Prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for Nick Du Toit, a
South African accused of leading an advance party of mercenaries
bent on ousting President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The verdict
was originally expected at 9 a.m. British time on Friday but court
officials said it would now be announced 1 p.m.
Obiang has ruled Equatorial Guinea, split between volcanic islands
and a mountainous jungle mainland in central Africa, since 1979 when
he seized power in a coup against his uncle.
Many foreign critics say Obiang and his allies have pocketed much of
the country's recently acquired oil wealth, and human rights groups
say abuses are rife -- charges Obiang dismisses.
Du Toit at first admitted he had taken part in a coup plot, but later
retracted his confession in court, saying it had been extracted by
torture. Several of the men on trial with him also said they were
tortured.
State prosecutor Jose Olo Obono denied their allegations, saying all
their rights had been respected.
Obono has named a group of foreigners as financial backers of the
planned putsch, including Mark Thatcher, son of former Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher, who denies any involvement, was arrested in South Africa
on August 25 on charges related to the alleged plot. A court there
on Thursday delayed his trial until April.
Thatcher had also been due to answer questions about the case from
Equatorial Guinea in South Africa on Friday but a Cape Town magistrate
postponed that hearing until February 18.
The prosecutor says the plot aimed to replace Obiang with exiled
opposition politician Severo Moto, with backing from an international
web of financiers lured by Equatorial Guinea's lucrative offshore
oil deposits.
PLOT ALLEGATIONS DENIED
Moto, who lives in Spain, denies all involvement in the plot. The
prosecutor has asked for him to be sentenced to death in absentia
and has called for 102-year jail terms for eight members of Moto's
self-proclaimed government in exile.
Besides Thatcher, the prosecutor named several other British or
London-based people as alleged financiers of the coup plan.
Malabo last week said it wanted an explanation from London after
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the British government had first
heard about the plan in late January -- more than a month before it
was foiled.
The Malabo trial has been under international scrutiny, with diplomats,
foreign journalists and observers from Amnesty International and the
International Bar Association following every court session.
Seven other South Africans and six Armenians, all arrested at the same
time as Du Toit, are on trial with him. The South Africans could face
86-year prison terms while the Armenians could be jailed for 26 years.
Five Equatorial Guineans are also defendants in the same trial. The
prosecutor has requested jail terms for two of them, and has dropped
charges against the other three.
All of the accused told the court they were innocent.
By Estelle Shirbon
Reuters, UK
Nov 26 2004
MALABO (Reuters) - An Equatorial Guinea court is due to give its
verdict on 14 suspected foreign mercenaries accused of plotting a coup
in the tiny country, sub-Saharan Africa's third biggest oil producer.
Prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for Nick Du Toit, a
South African accused of leading an advance party of mercenaries
bent on ousting President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The verdict
was originally expected at 9 a.m. British time on Friday but court
officials said it would now be announced 1 p.m.
Obiang has ruled Equatorial Guinea, split between volcanic islands
and a mountainous jungle mainland in central Africa, since 1979 when
he seized power in a coup against his uncle.
Many foreign critics say Obiang and his allies have pocketed much of
the country's recently acquired oil wealth, and human rights groups
say abuses are rife -- charges Obiang dismisses.
Du Toit at first admitted he had taken part in a coup plot, but later
retracted his confession in court, saying it had been extracted by
torture. Several of the men on trial with him also said they were
tortured.
State prosecutor Jose Olo Obono denied their allegations, saying all
their rights had been respected.
Obono has named a group of foreigners as financial backers of the
planned putsch, including Mark Thatcher, son of former Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher, who denies any involvement, was arrested in South Africa
on August 25 on charges related to the alleged plot. A court there
on Thursday delayed his trial until April.
Thatcher had also been due to answer questions about the case from
Equatorial Guinea in South Africa on Friday but a Cape Town magistrate
postponed that hearing until February 18.
The prosecutor says the plot aimed to replace Obiang with exiled
opposition politician Severo Moto, with backing from an international
web of financiers lured by Equatorial Guinea's lucrative offshore
oil deposits.
PLOT ALLEGATIONS DENIED
Moto, who lives in Spain, denies all involvement in the plot. The
prosecutor has asked for him to be sentenced to death in absentia
and has called for 102-year jail terms for eight members of Moto's
self-proclaimed government in exile.
Besides Thatcher, the prosecutor named several other British or
London-based people as alleged financiers of the coup plan.
Malabo last week said it wanted an explanation from London after
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the British government had first
heard about the plan in late January -- more than a month before it
was foiled.
The Malabo trial has been under international scrutiny, with diplomats,
foreign journalists and observers from Amnesty International and the
International Bar Association following every court session.
Seven other South Africans and six Armenians, all arrested at the same
time as Du Toit, are on trial with him. The South Africans could face
86-year prison terms while the Armenians could be jailed for 26 years.
Five Equatorial Guineans are also defendants in the same trial. The
prosecutor has requested jail terms for two of them, and has dropped
charges against the other three.
All of the accused told the court they were innocent.