ZIMBABWE CHARGES MERCENARIES CONNECTED WITH EQUATORIAL GUINEAN COUP PLOT
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 5:36 PM
Subject: [unioNews] ZIMBABWE CHARGES MERCENARIES CONNECTED WITH EQUATORIAL GUINEANCOUP PLOT
NEW AFRIKAN MILLENNIUM
15 MARCH 2004
Coups d'etat, anyone?
(Listing the two most recent coup attempts against Equatorial Guinea.)
m
ATTEMPTED COUP #1:
PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 24/011/2002
13 June 2002
Further information on UA 84/02 (AFR 24/001/2002, 19 March 2002) and follow-ups
(AFR 24/002/2002, 28 March 2002; AFR 24/008/2002, 7 June 2002) - fear of
torture/possible prisoners of conscience/death penalty
EQUATORIAL GUINEA:
Felipe Ondo Obiang (m)
Guillermo Nguma Elá (m)
Lt. Col. Lorenzo Ondó Elá (m)
Domingo Nfá Nvé (m)
Benito Ntutumu Eyene (m)
Donato Ondó Ondó (m)
Angel Ovono Akumbega (m)
Juan Mbá Esono (m)
Primo Micha Obiang(m)
Mariano Ekua Sima (m)
Pablo Nguema Mba(m)
Melchor Ndong Modu (m)
Ángel Ovono Akumbega (m)
Five others
Sixty-eight people, including all those listed above, were sentenced to prison
terms of up to 20 years on 9 June, after being convicted in a grossly unfair
trial of plotting to kill President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, and related charges.
Seventy-seven others were acquitted.
Amnesty International welcomes the fact that none of the defendants were
sentenced to death, even though the prosecution had called for the death
penalty to be imposed on 18 of them.
Felipe Ondó Obiang, Donato Ondó Ondó, Primo Micha Obiang, Pablo Nguema Mbá and
eight others were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
Guillermo Nguema Elá, Angel Ovono Akumbega and Mariano Ekua Sima were sentenced
to 14 years and eight months in jail, as were César Elá Ondó, Emilio Ndong
Biyogo, Pedro Alogo Monsuy and Juan Ovono Obiang (named in the original UA).
Domingo Nfa Nve, Benito Ntutumu Eyegue, Lt Col Lorenzo Ondó Elá and Melchor
Ndong Mondu were sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
Many thanks to all those who took action on this case. If possible, please send
a final round of appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish, English
or your own language:
- welcoming the fact that none of the defendants was sentenced to death;
- expressing concern that the trial was unfair and that most defendants stated
in court that they had been tortured but the court ignored their complaints;
- asking the authorities to ensure that all those imprisoned are protected from
ill-treatment and torture, and given regular access to their families and
lawyers.
APPEALS TO:
President of the Republic
General Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Presidente de la República
Gabinete del Presidente de la República
Malabo
República de Guinea Ecuatorial
Telegrams:Presidente de la República, Malabo, República de Guinea Ecuatorial
Fax: + 240 9 3313/3334
Salutation:Your Excellency/Excelencia
Minister of Interior
Clemente Ngonga Nguema Andema
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Malabo
República de Guinea Ecuatorial
Telegrams:Ministro del Interior, Malabo, República de Guinea Ecuatorial
Fax: + 240 9 2683/2688
Salutation: Dear Interior Minister/ Sr. Ministro
Minister of Justice
Rubén Mayé Nsue Mangue
Ministro de Justicia y Culto
Ministerio de Justicia y Culto
Malabo
República de Guinea Ecuatorial
Telegrams:Ministro de Justicia y Culto, Malabo, República de Guinea Ecuatorial
Fax: + 240 9 2115
Salutation: Dear Justice Minister/ Sr. Ministro
COPIES TO:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Santiago Nsobeya Efuman, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, Ministerio de Asuntos
Exteriores, Malabo, Guinea Ecuatorial
and to diplomatic representatives of Equatorial Guinea accredited to your
country.********
ATTEMPTED COUP #2:
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 06:40:01 -0500
From: "Pan-African News Wire" <[log in to unmask]>
ZIMBABWE CHARGES 'MERCENARY' MEN
Zimbabwe is charging 70 men, alleged to be mercenaries, with
immigration and firearms violations.
The men were detained after their plane was impounded in the
Zimbabwean capital of Harare eight days ago.
Zimbabwe has accused the group of planning a coup in oil-rich
Equatorial Guinea. A government minister has said the men
could face the death penalty.
The men's lawyer said they denied all the charges and had
been hired to work as security guards in DR Congo.
They are expected in court this week.
WEAPONS
Zimbabwean officials had said that the charges against them
would include destabilizing an independent and sovereign
government.
However, Mr. SAMKANGE said Zimbabwe did not have a law
under which alleged offenders could be prosecuted for an attempted
coup in another country.
The 67 men who arrived by plane are charged with contravening
the immigration and firearms acts, by failing to report to an
immigration officer on arrival, and "attempting to conspire
to buy guns" - not capital offences.
The three on the ground, including British ex-SAS man Simon
Mann, are being charged with actually buying firearms from a
state-owned company without a license.
If convicted the sentence would be between 5-10 years.
But lawyers say their clients signed a contract with the arms
manufacturer to buy the weapons, to use in the security of
the Congolese diamond mine, so say the charges are "absurd".
HISTORY OF COUPS
Zimbabwe and South Africa both suspect that the men were part
of a plot to overthrow the president of Equatorial Guinea,
TEODORO OBIANG NGUEMA.
Harare has accused the men of working for US, British and
Spanish intelligence agencies, claims which have been denied.
The group of detained men consisted of about 20 South
Africans, and also Angolans, Namibians, Congolese, one
Zimbabwean national and a British national, South African
newspapers reported.
Equatorial Guinea's president said South Africa had warned
him that a group of mercenaries was heading for his country
and he suggested that they had had foreign backing of hostile
foreign powers and multinational firms.
A man said to be the leader of the "mercenaries" appeared on
Equatorial Guinea state television to say that they had been
part of a plot to remove Mr. OBIANG and put an exiled
opposition leader in power.
In Spain, Mr. MOTO, who led a failed coup bid in Equatorial
Guinea in 1997, denied any role in the alleged plot.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3511646.stm
Published: 2004/03/15 11:34:43 GMT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTER
211 SCB BOX 47, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
DETROIT, MI 48202-- E MAIL: [log in to unmask]
======================================================================
lllll
QUOTATION:
"All of us may not live to see the higher accomplishments of an African empire, so strong and powerful as to compel the respect of mankind, but we in our lifetime can so work and act as to make the dream a possibility within another generation"
-<html><A HREF="http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion/afrohero.html">Ancestor Marcus Mosiah Garvey <i>(1887 - 1940)</i></A></html>
llllllllll
* //\\//\\ unioNews Newsgroup //\\//\\ *
* http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion *
* We're One People *
* Join the Chorus *
- African Union Shall Succeed -
=====================================
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
