'UK mercenary' on trial in Equatorial Guinea
Tuesday, 17 Jun 2008 15:07
Trial of former SAS officer Simon Mann accused of engineering failed coup in Equatorial Guinea begins
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The trial of a former SAS officer accused of engineering a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea has begun.
Simon Mann, 55, has been charged with crimes against the
African nation's head of state.
Earlier this year he was extradited to the oil-producing state after being arrested at Harare airport in
Zimbabwe with 70 other mercenaries.
Eton-educated Mr Mann is also accused of crimes against the government and crimes against the peace and independence of the state.
He has admitted involvement in the failed coup but denies being its ringleader. Prosecutors are pushing for a 32-year jail sentence if he is found guilty.
As expected, a number of high-profile Britons - including the son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher – have been implicated in the plot at the start of Mr Mann's Malabo trial.
Mark Thatcher vehemently denies any knowledge of the coup.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea for almost three decades, has insisted the trial will be fair and determine who financed the failed operation.
A Foreign Office spokesman told
inthenews.co.uk it had representatives at Mr Mann's trial but expressed the department's continued concern at consular access being blocked by Equatorial Guinean authorities.
The trial would be in line with international standards, the UK government has been assured, the spokesman added.