Ex-SAS official asks for lighter sentence in coup trial
Saturday, 21 Jun 2008 09:46
Ex-SAS man pleas for leniency over role in Equatorial Guinea coup
British mercenary Simon Mann, who is standing trial for his role in a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea, has asked for leniency from the court.
During the trial, the former SAS official admitted being part of the 2004 operation to overthrow the president of the west
African state but stated that prominent businessmen and politicians were more culpable for the plot.
In comments cited by the Reuters news agency, Mr Mann told the court that he was happy that the coup did not succeed and was just "an employee" in the plan to replace the country's leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema with an exiled opposition politician.
The prosecution has asked for a sentence of 31 years and eight months in jail but Mr Mann's lawyer, Jose Pablo Nvo, has called for leniency to be shown and for a third of the sentence to be passed against his client.
Mr Nvo told Reuters: "This story is a tale of how business lobbies tried to carve up Equatorial Guinea's crude oil and gas resources... As he (Mann) testified yesterday, this criminal operation is still under way.
"What I am asking for is a third of the sentence sought by the prosecution," he added.
Previously, Mr Mann has accused London-based tycoon Eli Calil and the son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Mark Thatcher, of being key figures in the plot.
He has also claimed that the governments of Spain and South Africa had approved of the operation.