Thatcher Then And Equatorial Guinea Now

Original posting, January 2006

Back in August 2004, Mark Thatcher was reported to have been released on bail by a South African court following his arrest (in an exclusive suburb of Cape Town) in connection with an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. He was ordered to pay a bail bond of two million Rand (£165,000) and hand over his passport. The charge: contravening two sections of South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance Act. The act bans residents from taking part in any foreign military activity. Sir Mark, who inherited his late father's hereditary baronetcy in 2003, was bailed to return to the court on 25 November and ordered not to leave the district and to hand over his passport and travel documents to the South African authorities.

A spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority said he had been arrested on suspicion of providing funding and logistical assistance. Speaking outside the court, Sir Mark's lawyer, Peter Hodes, said he had been held on suspicion of providing financing for a helicopter linked to the coup plot and intended to plead not guilty. After the hearing, a spokesman for Sir Mark said he was "innocent of all charges" made against him.

• An honest man is not likely to say: "...trust me...". He would expect to be believed. Would an innocent man say he was "innocent of all charges"?

An alleged plot to overthrow the president of Equatorial Guinea has sparked dozens of arrests across Africa. South African arms dealer Nick du Toit is accused of helping to organise the coup. He went on trial with 13 other foreign nationals on Monday in the country's capital, Malabo. The eight South Africans and six Armenians have been detained since March this year. Seventy other accused mercenaries are on trial separately in Zimbabwe, where they were arrested on 6 March as they allegedly prepared to board a leased aircraft to launch the coup.

Monday, 16th January, 2006

Eight men are expected to appear in the Pretoria High Court in South Africa on Monday, in connection with an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. The men were among 61 South Africans who were arrested when their aircraft landed in Zimbabwe in 2004. They served a year in jail for breaking Zimbabwe's aviation and firearms laws. The eight are now facing charges of breaking South Africa's anti-mercenary laws. No charges are being laid against the other 53 men. 

The son of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher last year fell foul of South Africa's anti-mercenary laws in relation to the alleged coup plot and was given a suspended jail term and fined after agreeing a plea bargain to help investigators. The alleged ringleader of the plot, Briton Simon Mann, and the two pilots of the plane, remain in prison in Zimbabwe on longer sentences. In Equatorial Guinea, 14 other people were found guilty of charges linked to the alleged coup attempt, including plot leader Nick du Toit who received a 34-year jail sentence.