24 mercenaries convicted in Equatorial Guinea plot
Japan Today
Nov 27 2004
Saturday, November 27, 2004 at 07:43 JST — MALABO, Equatorial Guinea –
A court in Equatorial Guinea convicted 24 accused European and African
mercenaries and opposition leaders on Friday and sentenced them to
prison for an alleged coup plot in the oil-rich nation, but it waived
the death penalty for two top figures.
The court’s rejection of death penalties requested by prosecutors
potentially strengthens Equatorial Guinea’s bid to extradite an alleged
financier of the plot: Mark Thatcher, son of the former British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher.
President Teodoro Obiang’s 25-year regime accuses Mark Thatcher
and other, mostly British, financiers of commissioning scores of
mercenaries in a takeover plot in the isolated West African nation
which is the continent’s third-largest oil producer.
The financial backers intended to install an opposition figure as a
puppet leader, Equatorial Guinea claims. The alleged plot was exposed
by South African intelligence services in March, days before it was
to have been carried out, leading to the arrests of roughly 90 alleged
mercenaries in Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe.
On Friday, 21 shackled, handcuffed defendants listened in a
chandelier-hung courtroom converted from a conference center as
Judge Salvador Ondo Nkumu read out verdicts and prison sentences,
without elaboration.
South African arms dealer Nick du Toit, accused by prosecutors of
leading an advance team for the coup plot, was sentenced to 34 years
in prison despite Attorney General Jose Olo Obono’s repeated demands
for the death penalty.
Du Toit, a stooped, graying, sadly smiling man who like all the
defendants had lost scores of pounds since arrest in March, had
provided the bulk of prosecutors’ case — testifying to meetings with
Thatcher and others around Africa, and alleging detailed plans to
move men and materiel into place.
But Du Toit repudiated his testimony last week, saying he agreed
to a fake confession to try to save himself and his co-defendants,
after one defendant was tortured to death in Malabo’s notorious Black
Beach prison shortly after his arrest in March.
Equatorial Guinea says the man, a German, died of malaria. Rights
groups cite witness accounts of wounds from torture.
Du Toit’s sentence effectively means life in Black Beach — a tiny
penitentiary built on the black volcanic rocks between Obiang’s
Spanish-colonial palace and the gray Atlantic.
The court also sentenced Severo Moto, the opposition figure who
the coup plotters allegedly intended to install as president, to 63
years. Moto was the only other defendant facing the death penalty. He
is living in exile and was sentenced in absentia.
Eight other opposition figures, also living in exile, were each
sentenced to 53 years.
Six other alleged South African mercenaries were sentenced to 17
years each; six Armenian pilots were sentenced to between 14- to 24
years each, and two Equatorial Guinea citizens were ordered jailed
for one to four months.
Obiang’s regime, with one of the world’s worst human rights records,
is accused by the International Bar Association and others of routine
torture and extensive interference in the justice system. Obiang,
speaking to reporters in August, stated the defendants’ conviction
as a given.
The decision to spare du Toit the death penalty was seen at least
in part as a message to South Africa, where Thatcher, a 51-year-old
businessman, is now facing separate prosecution in connection with
the alleged plot.
South Africa opposes capital punishment and was unlikely to send
Thatcher to Equatorial Guinea if he risked the death penalty. (Wire
reports)
–Boundary_(ID_BVJaF6utyTCc2Syshl4BGg)–

Stiff prison terms for Equatorial Guinea coup plotters
11-26-2004, 19h28
Agence France Presse
Nov 26 2004
Desirey Minkoh – (AFP/File)
MALABO (AFP) – A court in Equatorial Guinea gave stiff jail sentences
to five South Africans and six Armenians arrested nine months ago for
plotting to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, and to an opposition
leader and his government-in-exile for allegedly masterminding
the plot.
Three other South Africans were acquitted, along with three
Equato-Guineans out of five also on trial.
South African Nick du Toit was found guilty of organising the logistics
for the plot that saw suspects hauled in across Africa, including the
son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher for allegedly
bankrolling the conspiracy.
Du Toit was jailed for 34 years and fined 1.3 billion CFA francs
(around two million dollars, euros), while exiled opposition leader
Severo Moto was sentenced in his absence to 64 years in jail and
fined two billion CFA francs.
The attorney general of the tiny, oil-rich west African state last
week recommended that du Toit and Moto be sentenced to death, while
Obiang, who himself came to power in a putsch, vowed that “exemplary
sentences” would be imposed.
Du Toit has been held in the notorious Black Beach prison in Equatorial
Guinea’s capital Malabo since his arrest in February and was in court
to hear the verdict.
A former officer in South Africa’s special forces under apartheid,
the 48-year-old businessman admitted when he first went on trial
that he played a minor role in a plot to oust Obiang, but he later
retracted his statement.
Three of the Armenians, members of an air crew who flew shipments of
freight around Africa, were jailed for 24 years, the other three for
14 years, sparking protests from Yerevan.
Two of the Equato-Guineans were jailed for one year.
Eight members of a government in exile set up by Moto in Spain,
Equatorial Guinea’s former colonial ruler, were tried in their absence
and sentenced to 52 years in prison each.
Obiang’s regime, which has ruled since 1979 with an iron hand over
one of the world’s poorest countries turned major oil producer,
announced it had foiled a complex coup bid in March, which appeared to
have tentacles reaching across Africa and into Europe and the former
Soviet bloc.
Du Toit and his co-defendants were to guide a group of mercenaries
supposed to fly in from Zimbabwe to their targets in Equatorial Guinea,
the prosecution said.
The alleged mercenaries were arrested in Harare on March 7 and one
of them, Briton Simon Mann, was sentenced to seven years in jail in
Zimbabwe in September for attempting to buy weapons to be used in
the coup.
Sixty-seven other suspected mercenaries were sentenced to 12 to
16 months.
Thatcher, a friend of Mann, was arrested in August at his luxury home
in Cape Town, South Africa, and accused of contributing 275,000 dollars
(230,000 euros) to help finance the plot.
The 51-year-old son of the former British prime minister made three
appearances in South African courts this week only to hear the judges
set new dates, early next year, for hearings.
He has also been ordered to answer questions under oath from
prosecutors in Equatorial Guinea and will spend the coming months
confined to Cape Town.
While Du Toit initially said he carried out a minor logistics role
at the behest of Mann, he later retracted his confession, saying it
had been extracted under torture.
All the other defendants in Malabo categorically denied any involvement
in a coup plot. One of the defendants, a German, died in prison.
South Africa said it accepted the judgement against Du Toit and
the other South Africans, while Du Toit’s family said they were too
distraught to react.
“We are in shock and not sure yet exactly what is going on,” his
daughter, Marlise Bezuidenhout, 22, told AFP.
In Yerevan the foreign ministry slammed the verdict, saying, “we are
absolutely certain that the Armenian aircrew had nothing to do with
the attempted acts against the leadership of Equatorial Guinea.”
It said the court had produced no proof of the Armenians’ guilt,
adding that their lawyer would appeal.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER MEETS WITH UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
[November 26, 2004, 23:15:39]
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Nov 26 2004
On November 26, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Rood Lubbers met
with Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the State
Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov.
The Deputy Prime Minister provided the guest with detailed information
on the situation of refugees and internally displaced persons ousted
from their native lands as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, measures taken by the government of
Azerbaijan to solve their social problems. He especially stressed that
the destructive stance of Armenia that had carried out ethnic purge
on its territory hamper the problems resolution whereas thousands of
people is suffering from hardest living conditions.
The guest was also informed about the citizens of third countries
seeking asylum in Azerbaijan.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Rood Lubbers said he had witnessed
the work done by the Azerbaijan government for improvement of the
refugees’ situation. He promised that the United Nation would do
what it can to help despite the budget restrictions appeared. He also
touched upon the issue concerning those who arrive from other countries
to find an asylum in Azerbaijan, as well as ethnic Armenians living
in the country. Mr. Lubbers appreciated the Azerbaijan government’s
refugee policy noting that the work done in Azerbaijan to improve
the their situation is an example for other countries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Geragos Speaks Out Despite Gag Order
KSBW Channel.com, CA
Nov 26 2004
POSTED: 10:55 am PST November 26, 2004
LOS ANGELES — Scott Peterson’s attorney is speaking out despite
a gag order, talking about his attempt to get a new jury for the
penalty phase of the trial.
Mark Geragos spoke to reporters after attending an Armenian relief
telethon in Los Angeles Thursday night.
After a week’s delay, the penalty phase of the Peterson trial is
expected to start Monday. Geragos has filed a motion asking that the
same jury that convicted Peterson of murder not be allowed to decide
whether he will live or die.
“Actually, what was filed was a request to change venue or get a new
jury. And that’s specifically what’s before the Supreme Court. They
rule between now and Tuesday,” Geragos said.
Geragos said the jury has been tainted by the media coverage of
the trial.
The district and appellate courts have already rejected the defense
attorney’s request for a new jury.

Azeri defence minister urges NATO to press Armenia to pull out of Karabakh
ANS TV, Baku
27 Nov 04
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev has called on NATO to press
Armenia to end the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories.
“It would be better if NATO would demand that Armenia withdraw its
armed forces from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories,” Abiyev said
in his address to the Rose-Roth seminar of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly in Baku on 27 November.
The 58th Rose-Roth seminar of the NATO Parliament Assembly opened in
the Azerbaijani capital on 25 November and is due to end today.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan has chosen to integrate into Europe – defence minister
Turan news agency
27 Nov 04
Baku, 27 November: “The situation in the South Caucasus is still tense
and difficult. The cease-fire agreement has already been preserved
for 10 years, but the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has not been
resolved so far,” Azerbaijan’s Defence Minister Safar Abiyev told
the Rose-Roth seminar of the NATO Parliament Assembly in Baku today.
Abiyev said that under Article 2 of NATO’s Partnership for Peace
programme, the member countries of this programme have to recognize
the territorial integrity of other member states. However, Armenia
ignores this, and now the time has come for NATO to express its
position on this, he said.
Asked about Azerbaijan’s military agreements with Russia, Abiyev said
that Azerbaijan has no commitments “to pursue a balanced policy” and
that Baku has chosen to integrate into Euro-Atlantic structures. For
Azerbaijan, ensuring its own security and independence is above
everything, Abiyev said.
Abiyev said that currently Azerbaijan’s armed forces consist of 70,000
people, including 4,000 civilians. Military spending will account
for 2.3 per cent of GDP in 2005, Abiyev said. He told reporters
that Azerbaijan is not planning to increase the number of its troops
in Iraq.

Georgia wants explanation from Azerbaijan over blocking of railway traffic
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
27 Nov 04
Presenter About 900 railway cars with containing various types of
cargo have not been able to enter Georgia from Azerbaijan for more
than a month. The railway cars are loaded with fuel transported from
Central Asia as well as humanitarian aid shipment of wheat sent to
Georgia from Kazakhstan. Experts say that the blocking of the cargo
negatively affects the image of Georgia as a transit country, in
addition to huge losses suffered. Azeri representatives have provided
no official explanation on why the cargo has been blocked.
The head of the Georgian Railways Department, Davit Onoprishvili,
will now be answering our questions. Batono polite form of addressing
a man Davit, what is the real reason for blocking this cargo? Have
you received an official response from the Azerbaijani side?
Onoprishvili Hello. Unfortunately, the situation with respect to
letting the cargo cross the Azerbaijani border got complicated a week
ago. More precisely, it started two weeks ago, but at first it didn’t
look like an established trend. But now it is obvious that 800 to 900
railway cars have been stopped at the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, on
the Azerbaijani side, and there have been serious problems with respect
to letting most of the cargo cross the border. We have sent letters
to that effect, but there has been no official response, unfortunately.
However, in private conversations – I talked with the management of the
Azerbaijani railways, other structures subordinated to me also talked
with respective structures – it is a fact that their motivation is
that some of the cargo could be going to Armenia. Therefore, their
customs and, in some instances, perhaps the Azerbaijani security
service too – this should be verified – have been checking these
cargo in every railway car, and so on.
It is also a fact that they have not notified us about this in
writing. As far as I know, none of our state agencies has received
any official notification as to why the cargo is being blocked.
Presenter Batono Davit, presumably when the cargo will be allowed to
enter Georgia? Can you name a date?
Onoprishvili We have notified the Georgian government about this
situation. The government is aware of this and they have been working
through their channels. We will send our commercial director there
to Azerbaijan . Negotiations will start on Monday on whatever can be
decided between the railways, but another aspect of this situation is
that the problem cannot be easily resolved on the level of railways,
involvement of higher governmental levels is required. I know that
this work has already begun.
It is a fact that this kind of artificial stoppage hinders the
growth in circulation of cargo. We achieved good results during the
first two weeks of November. Compared to last year’s figures, the
movement of cargo was up in all directions. Now, the figures have
been dropping. Obviously, this negatively affects both our revenues
and those of freight forwarders who transport this cargo from Central
Asia. Passage omitted
There is another strange aspect. If the problem is about redirecting
cargo to Armenia, if this happens, or may happen, then it is only
possible from Tbilisi. However, some cargo that has been blocked is
bound for the ports of Batumi and Poti. This is transit cargo which
should pass our borders. Therefore, these actions of the Azerbaijani
side are completely unexplainable in many respects.
Presenter Thank you very much.

Jail terms for plotters
Associated Press
Nov 27 2004
A COURT convicted dozens of South Africans and Armenians yesterday
as mercenaries in a coup plot in the oil-rich African nation of
Equatorial Guinea, but rejected death penalties for two top figures.
The decision on the death penalty could help Equatorial Guinea in
its bid to extradite the most prominent figure in the alleged plot:
Mark Thatcher, son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Twenty-one shackled defendants listened in a courtroom in a converted
conference centre as Judge Salvador Ondo Nkumu read out verdicts and
sentences. He said the court would make no comment on its verdicts.
South African arms dealer Nick du Toit, who earlier this month
repudiated an alleged confession that had provided the bulk of
Equatorial Guinea’s case, received a 34-year prison sentence.
Opposition figure Severo Moto – the only other defendant for whom
prosecutors had requested the death penalty – was sentenced in
absentia to 63 years. Eight other opposition figures also living in
exile received 52 years each.
Equatorial Guinea alleged Thatcher and mainly British financiers
commissioned the bid to overthrow the 25-year-old regime of President
Teodoro Obiang.
Plotters allegedly intended to install an opposition politician as
the figurehead leader of Africa’s No. 3 oil producer.
Thatcher – charged in South Africa in connection with the alleged
conspiracy – and all others deny any involvement.
The court sentenced six other South Africans whom prosecutors said
were mercenaries to 17 years’ jail each.
Three Armenian pilots the Government said were hired to fly in gunmen
and material received 24 years each in prison, and three others 14
years each.
Equatorial Guinea citizens accused in the alleged plot received more
leniency. Two received sentences of one to four months, and two were
acquitted. Three other South Africans were also acquitted.
Defence lawyers said they would appeal against the convictions.
The verdicts brought no reaction in the courtroom, filled with family
members of the defendants. Defendants – in leg irons, handcuffs and
chains since their arrests in March – rattled out of the courtroom
after the verdict was read.
Equatorial Guinea has one of the world’s worst human rights records.
The US State Department and others accuse it of routine torture to
dissuade dissent.
The International Bar Association has questioned the independence of
the court system, accusing Mr Obiang of interfering in trials.
Several mercenaries said earlier in court they had been tortured,
with at least one showing scars.

Ex-Soviet bloc states mull election
BBC News
Nov 27 2004
Ukrainian opposition supporters have displayed the Georgian flag
Several countries in the former Soviet bloc have lined up behind
Russia in endorsing the disputed result of Ukraine’s presidential
election.
A notable exception is Georgia, which on the first anniversary of its
own “rose” revolution sees itself as having led where Ukraine now
follows.
Moldova has also openly broken ranks by criticising the conduct of
the polls.
Approval
Following the congratulatory message sent by Russian President
Vladimir Putin to the pro-Moscow candidate Viktor Yanukovych, Belarus
President Alexander Lukashenko telephoned the latter to offer his own
congratulations before the results had been declared.
Mr Lukashenko’s press office said that during the conversation, “the
president said he was completely confident that relations between
Ukraine and Belarus will continue to develop as dynamically as they
have done in the past”.
The presidents of three Central Asian countries also added their
voices.
“Your victory shows that the Ukrainian people have made a choice in
favour of the unity of the nation, of democratic development and
economic progress,” Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev wrote in a
letter to Mr Yanukovych.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov sent his “sincere congratulations” to
Mr Yanukovych.
What is happening in Ukraine today clearly attests to the
importance of Georgia’s example for the rest of the world
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili
The UzReport.com web site quoted Mr Karimov as saying he was “deeply
convinced that the acting Ukrainian prime minister’s activity in the
high post will serve to further strengthen the country’s independence
and the prosperity of its people”.
Kyrgyz President Askar Askayev also sent a message to Mr Yanukovych
expressing his satisfaction.
“On behalf of the Kyrgyz people, and from me personally, please
accept congratulations on the occasion of your election to the high
post of Ukrainian president,” the message said.
The state-controlled media in Turkmenistan have yet to report the
outcome of the polls.
Stability call
Two other CIS countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan, were more
ambivalent, stressing that the most important thing was to preserve
the unity and stability of Ukraine.
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said that he had not favoured
either candidate, but was prepared to congratulate whichever one the
Ukrainian election commission decided was the winner.
“The sooner the tension subsides, the better,” Armenia’s Noyan Tapan
news agency quoted him as saying.
A member of the Azerbaijani government also expressed concern that
Ukraine could become destabilised.
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov was quoted by the Azerbaijani
news agency Turan as saying it was important to prevent the country
from splitting into two.
Dissent
The message coming from Georgia was unashamedly pro-opposition.
President Mikhail Saakashvili said he was proud that Georgian flags
were being flown by Ukrainian opposition supporters in Kiev.
In November 2003, an alliance of opposition parties led by Mr
Saakashvili challenged the results of parliamentary elections that
initially declared the party of veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze
the winner.
“What is happening in Ukraine today clearly attests to the importance
of Georgia’s example for the rest of the world,” he said in a
statement broadcast by Georgia’s Rustavi-2 TV.
Moldova also raised concerns over the conduct of the election.
The country’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that “basic
democratic principles were distorted” and expressing regret that the
poll “lacked the objective criteria necessary for their recognition
by both the citizens of Ukraine and the international community”.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Nov 27 2004
DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER HOLDS BRIEFING
[November 27, 2004, 15:24:48]
On November 26, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov held
briefing on the debates over the situation in the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan at the 60th enlarged meeting of the UN General
Assembly’s 59th Session in New York and Azerbaijan Foreign Minister
Elmar Mamadyarov’s meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs.
Mr. Azimov said in particular that Azerbaijani side reaffirmed its
adherence to continue peace talks on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in
an intensive, fruitful and constructive manner both at the UN GA 59th
Session and during the prevois meetings with Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan in Berlin and OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs in Ney York.
He expressed concern over the fact of illegal settling of ethnic
Armenians in the occupied terrotories of Azerbaijan. The Deputy
Foreign Minister said contradicting the international humanitarian
law and damaging the peace process, these Armenia’s actions shall
cause concern in the international community too. He noted finally
that Azerbaijan wants an international experts group to be formed to
investigate these facts in the occu[pied territories.
In the end, the Deputy Foreign Minister A. Azimov answered questions
from journalists.