Zim court wants torture proof

HARARE – A Zimbabwe court on Friday adjourned an extradition case against a British man accused of a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea to give his lawyer time to prove charges the West African state tortures prisoners.

The Harare Magistrate’s Court said it would reconvene on March 23 to resume extradition hearings against Briton Simon Mann, a former special forces officer accused of masterminding a 2004 thwarted coup in the oil-rich country. Mann’s lawyer Jonathan Samkange has urged the court to reject the extradition request, saying Equatorial Guinea had a long history of torturing political prisoners and conducting unfair trials.Equatorial Guinea’s Attorney General Jose Ole Obono had earlier assured the court Mann would receive a fair hearing.Samkange said he needed the extra time to assemble documentation to back his torture charge.Mann was convicted by a Zimbabwean court in September 2004 of trying to buy weapons without a licence in connection with the coup plan and sentenced to four years in jail.Nampa-ReutersMann’s lawyer Jonathan Samkange has urged the court to reject the extradition request, saying Equatorial Guinea had a long history of torturing political prisoners and conducting unfair trials.Equatorial Guinea’s Attorney General Jose Ole Obono had earlier assured the court Mann would receive a fair hearing.Samkange said he needed the extra time to assemble documentation to back his torture charge.Mann was convicted by a Zimbabwean court in September 2004 of trying to buy weapons without a licence in connection with the coup plan and sentenced to four years in jail.Nampa-Reuters