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Trial of British 'dog of war' starts in Equatorial Guinea
British mercenary Simon Mann, went on trial in Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday accused of leading a failed coup in 2004.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:53 June 17, 2008
Malabo: British mercenary Simon Mann, went on trial in Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday accused of leading a failed coup in 2004.
Soldiers wearing black helmets and carrying machine-guns guarded the marble-walled conference centre where the hearing was being held in Malabo, capital of the small oil-producing West African state.
Mann - one of Africa's last "dogs of war" and a former special forces officer who was arrested in Zimbabwe with 70 mercenaries in 2004 en route to Equatorial Guinea - was brought to the court building in a convoy of three armoured vehicles.
Foreign journalists and ambassadors were allowed into the courtroom, but the reporters had to leave their cameras, mobile phones, notepads and pens outside and were also made to exchange their shoes for flip-flops
Public prosecutor Jose Olo Obono said last week Mann would go on trial on three main charges: crimes against the head of state, crimes against the government and crimes against the peace and independence of the state.
He could face the death penalty, but Obono said it was unlikely he would seek the maximum sentence.
Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo told Britain's Channel Four TV news that it would be up to the court to decide on Mann's punishment if he was convicted.
"We've reached a conclusion that Simon Mann was used as an instrument but there were material and intellectual authors behind it that financed the operation," Obiang said.
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