MERCENARY LEADER CONVICTED, OTHERS RELEASED

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001492

SIPDIS

YAOUNDE PLEASE PASS MALABO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2009
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ZI
SUBJECT: MERCENARY LEADER CONVICTED, OTHERS RELEASED

REF: (A) CAPE TOWN 517 (B) CAPE TOWN 512 (C) HARARE

445 (D) HARARE 417

Classified By: Political Officer Win Dayton under Section 1.5 b/d


1. (U) The GOZ-controlled Herald newspaper announced on
August 28 that Simon Francis Mann was convicted August 27 of
violating the Firearms Act. Laurens Jacobus Horne and
Jacobus Herminus Carlse were exonerated of related charges
and released, while 66 others remained incarcerated after
pleading guilty to contravening the Immigration Act and the
Civil Aviation Act. The court was scheduled to announce
sentences for those remaining in custody on September 10.
The GOZ also reportedly will seek to impound the aircraft,
equipment and an undisclosed amount of cash seized from the
detainees.


2. (C) One of the mercenaries' attorneys on August 31
confirmed essentials of the newspaper account to the Embassy.
He added that Horne and Carlse had already departed the
country for South Africa. Mann would likely receive
additional jail time, although probably less than the
ten-year maximum sentence, and the 66 remaining detainees
were expected to be fined less than USD 300 each and released
on September 10. The prosecuting attorney had agreed that
there were no grounds to meet Equatorial Guinea's extradition
request.


3. (C) COMMENT: Even as the GOZ exploited the Mann affair
for propaganda effect (refs C and D),security elements
seemed genuinely nervous about prospects of a raid to free
the mercenaries and may be pleased to see most of them leave.
Moreover, legal analysts had assessed some time ago that
Zimbabwean law did not offer sufficient ground to hold most
of the detainees for very long. The curious convergence of
the court activity and Mark Thatcher's arrest (refs A and B)
is likely coincidental. In any event, the South African
Embassy does not appear to have lobbied forcefully on behalf
of the South Africans involved.

Dell