ZIMBABWE: Most of the 70 men held in Zimbabwe on charges of plotting a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea pleaded guilty to lesser charges yesterday and were quickly convicted.
However, their lawyer said they all plan to enter not guilty pleas when the court hears the more serious charges against them today.
Mr Jonathan Samkange, the Zimbabwean lawyer for the group, entered guilty pleas on behalf of 67 of his clients to charges of violating Zimbabwe's immigration and civil aviation laws when their plane landed in Harare in March.
Magistrate Mr Mishok Guvamombe, presiding over the special court convened in Harare's top security jail, immediately found the men guilty of the charges which could carry sentences of anything from a fine to several years in jail.
The three other men in the group, including alleged ringleader Mr Simon Mann, were already in Zimbabwe when the plane landed and thus did not face the immigration charges.
Mr Samkange said the entire group planned to plead not guilty to the other charges. "The 70 will face two other serious charges tomorrow . . . they are going to plead not guilty to all the charges and we are going to be arguing our case," he said.
These charges include attempting to possess dangerous weapons and attempting to purchase weapons of war. They could bring jail sentences of up to 15 years.
The group, identified as South Africans, Angolans and Namibians, but all carrying South African passports, were arrested in March after their plane landed in Harare en route to what Zimbabwean officials said was a mission to oust Equatorial Guinea's leader, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. - (Reuters)