South African court rejects bid to return ‘mercenaries’

PRETORIA – A South African court yesterday denied a request to bring 70 men held by Zimbabwe as suspected mercenaries home to face trial, rejecting lawyers’ arguments they will not get a fair hearing in Harare.

Pretoria High Court Judge President Bernard Ngoepe said the demand for an official extradition request by defence lawyers exceeded the court’s jurisdiction, adding that the matter should be left to the South African and Zimbabwean governments. “There is no evidence that the government has done nothing in resolving the matter.It is not for us to decide where they must stand trial,” Ngoepe said, dismissing the application.The men, arrested in Zimbabwe in March, are accused of being linked to another group being held in Equatorial Guinea on charges of plotting to topple the government of the tiny oil-rich West African state.The men, some of whom are Namibians, all carry South African passports.They deny the charges and say they were a security detail on their way to guard mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Defence lawyer Francois Joubert said he planned to appeal the decision to South Africa’s Constitutional Court, the country’s highest judicial authority.He said the ruling left the men at risk of being sent for trial in Equatorial Guinea, where they could face the death penalty.The country is also widely accused of human rights abuses.Zimbabwe authorities have not publicly commented on the possibility of sending the men to Equatorial Guinea, although the two countries last month signed an extradition accord that could pave the way for such a transfer.”We are deeply disappointed.It now means that they can be extradited to Equatorial Guinea.We shall be seeking leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court.It could take weeks,” Joubert said after the ruling.Friends and family of the Zimbabwe group have urged the South African government to intervene, saying they fear they may be sentenced to death if put on trial in Equatorial Guinea.South Africa has said it would let the law run its course in both countries and only take action should the men face the death penalty, which is outlawed under the South African constitution.A spokeswoman for the families said judge Ngoepe’s decision increased uncertainties over the men’s fate.”They had pinned their hopes for justice on today’s decision and it has gone against them, I can’t imagine where the judicial process will now lead to,” said Marge Pain, whose 60-year-old husband, Kim Pain, is among the group.”We have to look to the Constitutional Court but in the meantime it means more weeks and weeks of languishing in jail for my husband and his colleagues and they are innocent,” she said as she sobbed quietly inside Pretoria’s Palace of Justice court building.- Nampa-Reuters”There is no evidence that the government has done nothing in resolving the matter.It is not for us to decide where they must stand trial,” Ngoepe said, dismissing the application.The men, arrested in Zimbabwe in March, are accused of being linked to another group being held in Equatorial Guinea on charges of plotting to topple the government of the tiny oil-rich West African state.The men, some of whom are Namibians, all carry South African passports.They deny the charges and say they were a security detail on their way to guard mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Defence lawyer Francois Joubert said he planned to appeal the decision to South Africa’s Constitutional Court, the country’s highest judicial authority.He said the ruling left the men at risk of being sent for trial in Equatorial Guinea, where they could face the death penalty.The country is also widely accused of human rights abuses.Zimbabwe authorities have not publicly commented on the possibility of sending the men to Equatorial Guinea, although the two countries last month signed an extradition accord that could pave the way for such a transfer.”We are deeply disappointed.It now means that they can be extradited to Equatorial Guinea.We shall be seeking leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court.It could take weeks,” Joubert said after the ruling.Friends and family of the Zimbabwe group have urged the South African government to intervene, saying they fear they may be sentenced to death if put on trial in Equatorial Guinea.South Africa has said it would let the law run its course in both countries and only take action should the men face the death penalty, which is outlawed under the South African constitution.A spokeswoman for the families said judge Ngoepe’s decision increased uncertainties over the men’s fate.”They had pinned their hopes for justice on today’s decision and it has gone against them, I can’t imagine where the judicial process will now lead to,” said Marge Pain, whose 60-year-old husband, Kim Pain, is among the group.”We have to look to the Constitutional Court but in the meantime it means more weeks and weeks of languishing in jail for my husband and his colleagues and they are innocent,” she said as she sobbed quietly inside Pretoria’s Palace of Justice court building.- Nampa-Reuters