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(TALKZIMBABWE) Mercenary Mann wants Zim conviction overturned

COMMENT - Execution is too good for these mercenaries.

Mercenary Mann wants Zim conviction overturned
Posted by By Our reporter at 30 January, at 01 : 27 AM

SIMON Mann, the Old Etonian mercenary behind a failed coup d’état in Equatorial Guinea, is appealing against his conviction for buying weapons for the plot in Zimbabwe. Mann wants his conviction in Zimbabwe overturned so that he can travel.

He was arrested in Zimbabwe in 2004 together with 69 other mercenaries when his Boeing 727 landed in Harare with $180,000 on board to pay for the arms cache. At trial, he was convicted of two counts of buying and selling weaponry, and sentenced to seven years imprisonment in Harare.

He was released after three, and sent to Equatorial Guinea where he was jailed for another year before being pardoned by the leader he had sought to overthrow, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

On Thursday, it emerged that Mann, who is now back in the UK and has written a book about his experiences, is seeking to have his conviction in Zimbabwe overturned.

Eveson Samkange, one of a team of Zimbabwean lawyers acting on behalf of Mr Mann, said his client wanted to clear his name so he could travel.

He said that they had been granted leave to appeal the conviction following a hearing in the High Court on Wednesday.

In court papers, Mann, a former a Scots Guards and SAS officer, said that when he arrived in Harare, he was representing South African firm Military Technical Service, which had a deal with the Zimbabwean authorities to buy weapons.

He said that since MTS had a firearms license, “the contact of purchase and sale aforesaid was above board and legitimate in all the circumstances”.

He explained that his lawyers had not initially appealed his conviction because they were negotiating with the Zimbabwean government to hand over the plane, and the $180,000, in return for Mann’s release back to London.

“At first the government indicated it wanted the plane and that it would release Simon Mann in exchange for it,” Samkange said.

“But that came to nothing in the end and I don’t know who in government was involved at that time.”

Instead, President Robert Mugabe’s government extradited Mann to Equatorial Guinea in what many interpreted as a handover in return for oil from the resource-rich West African nation.

The plane, a Boeing 727, is thought to be still on the tarmac at Manyame Air Base, a high-security military instalment next to Harare International Airport. Samkange said several attempts by the Zimbabwean government to have its ownership transferred from Mann’s name have failed.

He said that since the Zimbabwean government reneged on its deal, Mann should be allowed to appeal his conviction – and take back possession of his plane and money.

The Telegraph/TZG

Labels: SIMON MANN, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 5:36 PM