Harare - British mercenary Simon Mann was Friday due to
appear in court in the Zimbabwe capital Harare to defend himself
against extradition to Equatorial Guinea, his lawyer said.
Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea is trying to have the former SAS
officer extradited to Malabo to face charges of plotting to topple
the government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
Simon is supposed to be giving evidence today, defence lawyer
Jonathan Samkange told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a telephone
interview.
Mann was arrested in Harare in March 2004 along with dozens of
other suspected soldiers of fortune. The Zimbabwe government accused
them of being en route to Equatorial Guinea to overthrow the
government, but the men denied this.
Most of Mann's alleged accomplices were released two years ago
after serving year-long jail terms for minor immigration offences,
the only ones the Zimbabwean authorities could pin on them.
Mann, who was convicted of more serious security and firearms
offences, is due to be released next month after having served two-
thirds of a four-year jail term.
The government of Equatorial Guinea began its application to have
the former British SAS commando extradited in February.
Defence lawyer Samkange argued then that Zimbabwean and
international laws do not allow someone to be extradited to a
requesting country if they cannot be guaranteed a fair trial, and
where they could face execution.
Equatorial Guinea's attorney general responded by saying Mann
would receive an open and fair trial and claimed Malabo's courts
would not impose the death penalty in the case of a conviction.
Under the central African country's laws, plotting to overthrow
the government is punishable by the death penalty or a 30-year jail
term.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
Your Talkback on this Story