Equatorial Guinea/UK

Simon Mann gets 34 years for coup plot

Article published on the 2008-07-08 Latest update 2008-07-08 12:09 TU

Simon Mann.
( Photo : AFP )

A court in Equatorial Guinea has jailed mercenary Simon Mann for 34 years in prison for his part in an attempted coup plot. The former soldier in the British Army planned to overthrow the government of the small oil-rich nation. Mann told reporters in the court that he is not sure whether he can appeal the sentence.

"I've no idea. I don't know how it works here. Maybe you can appeal, I don't know," he said.

The old Etonian was arrested by Zimbabwe police at Harare airport four years ago, along with dozens of other alleged mercenaries and was sentenced to jail in Zimbabwe for trying to illegally buy weapons for the attempted coup.

He acknowleged taking part in the attempt to topple the government, but his lawyer argued he was a secondary player.

Mann has accused London-based tycoon Ely Calil of being the boss as well as Mark Thatcher, the son of the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Four years ago, Thatcher was arrested in South Africa after allegedly trying to buy a helicopter for the coup operation.

Mann was convicted in Zimbabwe of attempting to buy arms for an alleged coup plot and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. His lawyers accused Zimbabwean officials of a criminal conspiracy in secretly flying him out of the country before his appeals procedure was finished.

As well as his sentence, Mann was fined 15 million euros and banned from travelling to Equatorial Guinea for 20 years after his jail term ends.

"This is an important step in Africa trying to consoldiate its democratic process which started in the 1990s," Sarjoh Bah, Research Coordinator for Global Peace Operations at New York University's Center on International Cooperation.

"The activities of Simon Mann and [convicted mercenary] Bob Denard are contrary to the democratic aspirations of people on the continent. So in that respect, I will say this is a significant step forward," he added.

Equatorial Guinea is a former Spanish colony and has been ruled by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who seized power in a coup in 1979. His Government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses.