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SA wont charge pardoned mercenaries

  1. Posted on Thursday 5 November 2009 - 13:30
    Mernat
    Image of Mernat
    Mernat Mafirakurewa
    Johannesburg – The South African Justice ministry will not prosecute four mercenaries pardoned this week by Equatorial Guinea for a failed coup in 2004.
    The Justice Ministry on Thursday said the mercenaries would not undergo another trial on home soil as they had served for their crimes.
    The four Nick du Toit, Sergio Cardoso, Jose Sundays and George Alerson, along with British citizen Simon Mann were granted presidential pardons on humanitarian grounds on Tuesday.
    Nick du Toit, told local media on Tuesday that President Jacob Zuma had played a crucial role in their release.
    "We were told that we were going to be freed. We were told that Zuma and his government were involved in the negotiations for our release and now today, we are free men," said Du Toit
    Tlali Tlali the Justice Ministry spokesperson the four could only be charged if new charges emerged that would be looked unto.
    "These people have been arrested, tried, convicted and served a term for their crimes. They have paid for their sins and they will not be charged again," said justice spokesperson Tlali Tlali.
    Mann returned to Britain on Wednesday, but the four South Africans have yet to return home.
    In March 2004,Mann led a group of 64 mainly South African mercenaries in an attempt to seize control of Equatorial Guinea by overthrowing its president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema M'basogo, and installing Severo Moto, an opposition leader living in exile in Madrid.
    End

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