Daily News , South Africa
Nov 19 2004

Suspected mercenaries ‘chained like animals’

By Beauregard Tromp

Malabo: A South African arms dealer who could face death for plotting
to overthrow the president of Equatorial Guinea told a court
yesterday he and his comrades had been chained like animals and
tortured into confessing.

Equatorial Guinea’s state prosecutor demanded the death penalty for
Nick du Toit and decades in jail for 13 other suspected foreign
mercenaries.

But in a dramatic final day of submissions in a trial that began in
August, the defendants stood up in chains and handcuffs to plead
their innocence.

“No weapons, no arms, no explosives were found on us,” Du Toit said.

“We have done nothing wrong. Since our arrest, we have been chained
like wild animals. We have been tortured by the police.There hasn’t
been any coup attempt.”

State Prosecutor Jose Olo Obono rejected any allegations of
mistreatment, saying all prisoners’ rights had been respected.

“Any statement to the contrary is not admissible in this trial,” he
told the court.

After closing arguments yesterday the fate of the eight alleged South
African mercenaries and their co-accused is now in the balance with
the very real threat of every man spending the rest of his life in
prison.

Yesterday the men shuffled to the front of the courtroom in Atepa
International Convention Centre constrained by their leg-irons, and
one by one pleaded to the judge for their lives. Judgment is set to
be delivered next Friday.

First to enter the courtroom was Jose Domingos, one of the
naturalised South African Angolans, followed by Mark Smit, the
youngest of the group, who was brought in at the last minute to work
as a cook.

Some have visibly lost weight since a month ago. Most were wearing
shorts, T-shirts and sandals with the eight South Africans and six
Armenians still in handcuffs and leg irons.

After the judge and his two magistrates were seated, the alleged
ringleader of the mercenaries, Nic du Toit, was brought in, escorted
by six soldiers.

When the men were taken away later Du Toit was driven away alone in a
police van. He was kept away from the rest of the group who are all
seated behind eight defence attorneys.

The Equatorial Guinea authorities say there has been at least one
attempt to free the prisoners. It also emerged that while the
attention was focused on the trial of Mark Thatcher in Cape Town,
there had been another coup attempt.

The latest plot, EG authorities said, apparently was a local attempt
that was quickly quashed before it came to fruition.

Inside the courtroom a photographer and video cameraman moved around
the floor, photographing everybody present at the trial.

Even young Mark, who seemed teary-eyed and bewildered a few months
ago, has changed, now sporting a beard and a steely look was visible
from under his furrowed brow.

During the half-hour recess the men were glad for the opportunity to
speak to the South African officials attending the trial.

For Du Toit and Bones Boonzaaier it was another rare opportunity to
see their wives.

As they sit in an adjoining room, staring into their partners’ eyes
like young, starry-eyed lovers, they seem to relish every tidbit of
information they receive.

There was no talk of the trial, the horrendous prison conditions or
their health but rather of family, children and home. – Foreign
Service and Reuters