EQUIPO NIZKOR |
|
28Oct04
Prosecutor Links Thatcher to 'Chequebook Colonialists'.
A South African state prosecutor argued today that Sir Mark Thatcher must answer questions about an alleged failed coup plot in Equatorial Guinea to prevent “chequebook colonialists” from trying to take over small African nations.
Equatorial Guinea wants to question a number of prominent Britons, including the son of former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, about allegations they financed a plot earlier this year to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled Africa’s third-largest oil producer for the past 25 years.
State prosecutor Michael Donen told the Cape Town court that the need to stop rich men and mercenaries from undermining the rule of law in Africa superseded Thatcher’s right to silence, which his lawyers say is vital to prevent him from incriminating himself.
“There is therefore a trend apparently in Equatorial Guinea ... in central Africa where chequebook colonialists hire small groups of former South African Defence Force people and they buy themselves a small African country which has oil,” Donen said.
“We have a constitutional obligation to prevent this,” he said.
Nineteen people are on trial in Equatorial Guinea, including Nick Du Toit, a South African arms dealer alleged to have led an advance team for the plot.
Du Toit, the only suspect facing the death penalty, has testified that he met Thatcher and others repeatedly in the months before the alleged coup attempt.
Earlier, Thatcher’s lawyer, Peter Hodes, argued that his client should not be forced to answer questions about his alleged involvement because Equatorial Guinea’s justice system was run by “thugs.”
Thatcher’s lawyers fear that any testimony he provides in connection with Equatorial Guinea’s request could incriminate him ahead of his own trial in South Africa on charges that he violated the Foreign Military Assistance Act by financing an illegal military action in a foreign country. He denies the charges and has said he will cooperate with authorities. His trial begins on November 25.
Hodes said questioning Thatcher, 51, would help the trial in Equatorial Guinea, where courts have been criticised as deeply flawed by Amnesty International and the US State Department. [of course]
“You’re dealing here with thugs my lord. That’s who you’re dealing with,” Hodes told Cape High Court Judge Deon van Zyl.
Thatcher, a 51-year-old businessman who has lived in South Africa since 1995, was subpoenaed after the South African government granted an Equatorial Guinea request to question him. He was arrested in August.
The state will continue to argue tomorrow that Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla was within her rights to approve the Equatorial Guinea request.
Thatcher’s lawyers argue the process was seriously flawed.
Last month Simon Mann, a former SAS officer accused of organising the failed coup plot, was sentenced to seven years in prison in Zimbabwe for trying to buy weapons from the state arms manufacturer.
[Source: The Scotsman, Scotland, 28Oct04]
 | This document has been published on 21Nov04 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |