Pilot not guilty: wife

THE wife of Namibian pilot Hendrik Hamman who is being detained in Zimbabwe, maintains that her husband has no links to any mercenary operation.

Hamman is among 70 men alleged to be part of a plot to overthrow the government of the oil-rich West African state of Equatorial Guinea. Yesterday Waldi Hamman dismissed as “ridiculous” the idea that a man with a family and children would be party to an alleged coup attempt.Speaking from their farm Oupembameva Suid in the Seeis area, a distressed Mrs Hamman said she had had no contact with her husband since he left Windhoek on March 5.The Boeing 727 Hamman was flying was seized at Harare airport last week Sunday, on suspicion that it was carrying mercenaries (among them 18 Namibians) headed for Equatorial Guinea – allegedly to overthrow the government.The men had still not been formally charged by the Zimbabwean police by yesterday.Last week Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said the group would be charged with “destabilising a sovereign and independent government”, while Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said the group would be hanged.The state media refers to them as “terrorists”.However, acting attorney general Bharat Patel has contradicted them.”No, we don’t have any legislation on mercenaries,” the independent weekly Standard quoted him as saying on Sunday.Yesterday, Mrs Hamman said: “My husband is not guilty.He is a farmer.A pilot simply does the flying, nothing else.He wouldn’t know what the people on board are going to do.”She said her husband was a full-time farmer and only did freelance flying on rare occasions.According to her, he only flew the required number of hours to maintain his licence.Mrs Hamman told The Namibian that she had no knowledge of where her husband was headed when he left Namibia 10 days ago, nor any details related to the flight he intended to undertake.”Even if they were going there [Equatorial Guinea], they [the pilots] were just doing their job.They wouldn’t get off there and fight.They are not soldiers,” said Hamman.She had, however, received word from Zimbabwe through her husband’s lawyer, that the flight crew were well, although they were allegedly detained in appalling conditions with little food.They are apparently being held in different cells.South African lawyer Deon van Dyk who has been hired by Hamman as well as Niel Steyl the flight captain and Ken Payne, the flight engineer to negotiate for their release, told Mrs Hamman that guards denied him entry to the group after he was granted an appointment to see them on Friday morning.He told Mrs Hamman that he hoped to see them today.She said because the crew felt their case was different to that of the passengers they were carrying, they had decided to obtain their own legal representation.Yesterday Waldi Hamman dismissed as “ridiculous” the idea that a man with a family and children would be party to an alleged coup attempt.Speaking from their farm Oupembameva Suid in the Seeis area, a distressed Mrs Hamman said she had had no contact with her husband since he left Windhoek on March 5.The Boeing 727 Hamman was flying was seized at Harare airport last week Sunday, on suspicion that it was carrying mercenaries (among them 18 Namibians) headed for Equatorial Guinea – allegedly to overthrow the government.The men had still not been formally charged by the Zimbabwean police by yesterday.Last week Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said the group would be charged with “destabilising a sovereign and independent government”, while Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said the group would be hanged.The state media refers to them as “terrorists”.However, acting attorney general Bharat Patel has contradicted them.”No, we don’t have any legislation on mercenaries,” the independent weekly Standard quoted him as saying on Sunday.Yesterday, Mrs Hamman said: “My husband is not guilty.He is a farmer.A pilot simply does the flying, nothing else.He wouldn’t know what the people on board are going to do.”She said her husband was a full-time farmer and only did freelance flying on rare occasions.According to her, he only flew the required number of hours to maintain his licence.Mrs Hamman told The Namibian that she had no knowledge of where her husband was headed when he left Namibia 10 days ago, nor any details related to the flight he intended to undertake.”Even if they were going there [Equatorial Guinea], they [the pilots] were just doing their job.They wouldn’t get off there and fight.They are not soldiers,” said Hamman.She had, however, received word from Zimbabwe through her husband’s lawyer, that the flight crew were well, although they were allegedly detained in appalling conditions with little food.They are apparently being held in different cells.South African lawyer Deon van Dyk who has been hired by Hamman as well as Niel Steyl the flight captain and Ken Payne, the flight engineer to negotiate for their release, told Mrs Hamman that guards denied him entry to the group after he was granted an appointment to see them on Friday morning.He told Mrs Hamman that he hoped to see them today.She said because the crew felt their case was different to that of the passengers they were carrying, they had decided to obtain their own legal representation.