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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Simon Mann gets 34-year sentence in Equatorial Guinea |
| 2008-07-08 |
| Simon Mann, the British mercenary who attempted to organise a coup in the West African state of Equatorial Guinea four years ago, was sentenced to 34 years in prison at a court hearing in the capital, Malabo, yesterday. The sentence was two years more than the prosecution asked for. Mann, 56, stood in silence as the sentence was read out by Judge Carlos Mangue in the heavily guarded courtroom. Mann was also ordered to pay a fine and compensation to the Equatorial Guinea state totalling around $24m. Another defendant, Lebanese businessman Mohamed Salaam, received a jail sentence of 18 years, while four Equatorial Guinean nationals were given terms of six years each. Another was jailed for one year and one defendant was acquitted. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 South Africa, a fierce public opponent of African coups and mercenary escapades, knew all about it but apparently allowed it to proceed. Of course they did! They also tipped off their pal ZimBob and the gov't of Guinea...just to make the west look bad and completely foil the plan. I suspect they were waiting for Mark Thatcher to turn up on site and capture him as well. This failed operation and the continued monitoring by the "Yard" doesn't pass the sniff test. It has Bay of Pigs written all over it. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-07-08 09:20 |
| #2 Inept operation more like it. I have never planned a military operation, but I suspect I could have done better job than these guys. Cascading failures. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2008-07-08 07:07 |
| #1 High-risk operation, what did the guy expect? |
| Posted by: gromky 2008-07-08 05:39 |