JURIST - Paper Chase: Zimbabwe court affirms alleged coup plotter extradition to Equatorial Guinea

[JURIST] The Zimbabwe High Court Wednesday ruled against an appeal filed by the legal team defending Simon Mann [BBC profile] seeking to prevent Mann's extradition [JURIST report] for trial in Equatorial Guinea. Judge Rita Makarau held that the government had enough evidence that Mann was involved in a plot to overthrow Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma [BBC profile] to allow the extradition order. Lawyers for Mann, who is currently serving a four-year sentence after being convicted on weapons charges [JURIST report] in Zimbabwe in 2004, argued that Mann will likely face torture and possibly the death penalty if he is extradited to Equatorial Guinea, but the judge ruled that his defense failed to establish a sufficient likelihood of torture.

In 2004, Mann and over 60 mercenaries were sentenced [JURIST report] in Zimbabwe for plotting a coup against Ngeuma. In 2005, Sir Mark Thatcher [BBC profile], son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, pleaded guilty in South Africa to charges related to the failed coup and was fined [JURIST reports]. AP has more.

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