Keltria
03-10-2005, 11:03 AM
Edited version otherwise really long
'Mercenaries' in Zim are 'not doing well'
Pretoria, South Africa | Mariette le Roux
10 March 2005 05:07
Some of the 62 South African suspected mercenaries who had been due to be freed from a Zimbabwean jail this week became tearful upon learning on Thursday morning that their release has been put on hold.
"They are not doing well," lawyer Alwyn Griebenow said from Harare after visiting the men at the Chikurubi prison. "I broke the news to them this morning. It is a bad feeling when grown men stand before you with tears in their eyes."
The men, who received a four-month reprieve on their sentences last Wednesday following a successful appeal, were due to return home by bus on Tuesday morning.
By the afternoon, however, there was no sign of the men at the Beit Bridge border post where Griebenow and a contingent of journalists were waiting.
It was later learnt that their return was put on hold when Zimbabwe's Attorney General, Sobuza Gula-Ndebele, lodged an application for leave to appeal against the Supreme Court's reduction of their sentences.
The men were not told anything of the latest events and have been expecting to return home, Griebenow said.
The Zimbabwe Supreme Court is expected to give a ruling on Friday afternoon on the attorney general's application.
If leave to appeal is refused, the men will probably return home early next week. If not, it is not known how much longer they will have to stay -- but at least for the duration of the appeal hearing.
He also disputes that the men qualify for a one-third remission of sentence for good behaviour.
British businessman Mark Thatcher, accused of partly financing the alleged coup plot, was fined R3-million in January after pleading guilty to contravening South African anti-mercenary laws. -- Sapa
'Mercenaries' in Zim are 'not doing well'
Pretoria, South Africa | Mariette le Roux
10 March 2005 05:07
Some of the 62 South African suspected mercenaries who had been due to be freed from a Zimbabwean jail this week became tearful upon learning on Thursday morning that their release has been put on hold.
"They are not doing well," lawyer Alwyn Griebenow said from Harare after visiting the men at the Chikurubi prison. "I broke the news to them this morning. It is a bad feeling when grown men stand before you with tears in their eyes."
The men, who received a four-month reprieve on their sentences last Wednesday following a successful appeal, were due to return home by bus on Tuesday morning.
By the afternoon, however, there was no sign of the men at the Beit Bridge border post where Griebenow and a contingent of journalists were waiting.
It was later learnt that their return was put on hold when Zimbabwe's Attorney General, Sobuza Gula-Ndebele, lodged an application for leave to appeal against the Supreme Court's reduction of their sentences.
The men were not told anything of the latest events and have been expecting to return home, Griebenow said.
The Zimbabwe Supreme Court is expected to give a ruling on Friday afternoon on the attorney general's application.
If leave to appeal is refused, the men will probably return home early next week. If not, it is not known how much longer they will have to stay -- but at least for the duration of the appeal hearing.
He also disputes that the men qualify for a one-third remission of sentence for good behaviour.
British businessman Mark Thatcher, accused of partly financing the alleged coup plot, was fined R3-million in January after pleading guilty to contravening South African anti-mercenary laws. -- Sapa