Eight accused of Equatorial Guinea coup plot walk free

Eight men accused in South Africa of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea that was partly financed by Mark Thatcher, the son of the former British prime minister, had the charges against them dismissed on Feb. 23. Magistrate Peet Johnson, sitting in Pretoria regional court, threw the case out after a number of state witnesses claimed the attempted coup was sanctioned by the South African, British and US governments. The eight were among a group of more than 60 mercenaries arrested in March 2004 when they flew to Harare international airport from South Africa, allegedly to refuel and pick up military equipment on their way to the oil-rich west African state. Most of the group spent a year in prison in Zimbabwe but the ringleader, the former British special forces soldier Simon Mann, remains in jail. They were accused of contravening South Africa's tough foreign military assistance act. But the magistrate said that, while the actions of the men were unlawful, he could not find by "any stretch of the imagination" that they had knowingly contravened the act. He said the government's own witnesses proved the defense of some of the accused; that they believed South Africa had approved the coup attempt. Others were under the impression that they were going to guard a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "There was credible evidence by the state's witnesses that the coup was sanctioned by the South African government or that they were under the impression that it was sanctioned," Johnson said. During the trial, Crause Steyl, a pilot involved in the coup who turned state witness, shed new light on Thatcher's involvement. Steyl said Thatcher displayed numerous "nervous twitches" when they met to arrange the financing of a $250,000 helicopter. "He was concerned once the helicopter was acquired on whose name it was going to be registered–anyone but his," Steyl said. In a 2005 plea bargain, Thatcher was fined and given a four-year suspended sentence. In an attempt to rebut allegations of government approval, the director general of the South African secret service, Hilton Dennis, was called as the last state witness. He admitted that he knew of the plot but did not sanction it. Explaining why he allowed the men to fly out of South Africa, he said: "There are many ways to kill a cat. We chose this route and succeeded in preventing the coup." Jack Straw, the former British foreign secretary, has also admitted knowing about the plot two months beforehand, but he made no effort to warn President Teodoro Obiang.