BRITAIN: Lawyers defending Sir Mark Thatcher against charges he helped finance a coup attempt in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea yesterday challenged the legality of a South African government subpoena to question the former prime minister's son.
Sir Mark (51), a businessman who inherited his title when his father died, was subpoenaed after the South African government granted an Equatorial Guinea request to question him about the allegations.
His lawyers argued in a Cape Town court, however, that it was unconstitutional to subpoena him to respond to those questions while he has related South African charges pending.
Equatorial Guinea wants to question a number of prominent Britons, including Sir Mark, who was arrested in August, about allegations they financed a plot this year to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled Africa's third-largest oil producer for the past 25 years.
Nineteen people are on trial in Equatorial Guinea, including Mr Nick Du Toit, a South African arms dealer alleged to have led an advance team for the plot. Mr Du Toit, the only suspect facing the death penalty, has testified that he met Sir Mark and others repeatedly in the months before the alleged coup attempt.
Sir Mark's lawyer, Mr Peter Hodes, alleged that Equatorial Guinea's legal system was flawed. He criticised the South African government for not acknowledging this, and allowing the request for questioning, which he said could be used in an unfair trial against Mr Du Toit and possibly later against Sir Mark.
"The minister of justice may well be assisting in putting Du Toit to death," he told Judge Deon van Zyl.
Sir Mark, who has lived in South Africa since 1995, faces trial on November 25th in Cape Town on charges of violating the Foreign Military Assistance Act by financing an illegal military action in a foreign country.
He denies the charges, and has said he will co-operate with authorities.
Mr Hodes accused Equatorial Guinea's attorney general, Mr Jose Olo Obono, of lying in an effort to convince South African authorities to question Sir Mark.
He argued the South African government would be assisting Equatorial Guinea in an unfair trial by forcing Sir Mark to answer questions about his alleged involvement in the coup attempt.
"What we are dealing with in Equatorial Guinea is a military tribunal or there is a good possibility that it is," Mr Hodes said. "In many instances judges are not qualified, and in cases where heads of state are involved it is usually a military tribunal."
Mr Hodes said although Mr Obono claimed Mr Du Toit and others had given their confessions voluntarily, the men later said they were tortured and coerced into confessing.
Sir Mark arrived at the Cape High Court looking relaxed. He said he did not want to pre-empt the court's decision by commenting on the case. The hearing will continue today.
"Everyone's been asking me how I feel, and what I think," he said. "Only one side of the matter has been heard, and I think it would be inappropriate to comment. It would be pre-empting the decision of the bench . . . I can't say anything else."
Last month, Simon Mann (67), a former SAS officer accused of organising the failed coup plot, was sentenced to seven years in prison in Zimbabwe for trying to buy weapons from the state arms manufacturer.
Mr Mann's accused accomplices, arrested when their ageing Boeing 727 landed at Harare International Airport on March 7th, were sentenced by a Zimbabwe court to 12 months to 16 months for minor immigration and aviation violations. - (AP)