Five mercenaries in S.A. court on kidnap counts

Press, 4 December 1981, Page 6

Five mercenaries in S.A. court on kidnap counts

NZPA-Reuter Pretoria South Africa’s Opposition has described as scandalous the decision to charge only five mercenaries after an abortive coup last week in the Seychelles. “Mad Mike” Hoare and four other men, facing possible death sentences, were released on bail yesterday while 39 mercenaries were freed from prison. The Opposition, Progressive Federal Party’s Parliamentary whip, Brian Bamford. said the decision to charge only five was scandalous. “In my 25 years of law I have never heard of a case where you have a group of conspirators and the State charges some of them and releases the others," he said. The attempt to topple the Seychelles President (Mr Albert Rene) was foiled in a fierce gun battle at Seychelles international airport. An Indian airliner was hijacked to the South African city of Durban where the 44 men aboard were detained. The pilot said the Boeing 707 was taken over during the gunfight and he was forced to fly to South Africa. The Police Minister (Mr Louis le Grange) said only five were being charged because the police were satisfied. this was all that was necessary. He said others could still be charged or called as witnesses. The matter was reviewed by the Cabinet yesterday. President Rene, who himself took power after a coup four years ago, said yesterday the release of the 39 men showed that “the South African Government was involved in this affair.”

South Africa has denied any knowledge of the coup attempt. South Africa had close relations with the Seychelles under President Rene’s predecessor, James Mancham, but since the present Government came to power it has had to stop using the Seychelles as a stopover for South African Airways’ flights to the Far East. The five men, who appeared in court on charges of kidnapping, were not asked to plead and, in a surprise move, were released on bail. Hoare’s bail was set at 10,000 rand ($NZ12,400) and the others at 5000 rand (SNZ62OO) each. The 39 men released have not officially been identified. But diplomatic sources said 23 were South Africans, nine Britons, five Zimbabweans, two Irishmen, two West Germans. one American, one Australian and one Austrian. Hoare, who has lived in South Africa since World War 11, has an Irish passport. The sources said the Zimbabweans included three highly decorated senior officers in the former Rhodesian armed forces and identified the American as Barry Gribbon, of Miami, Florida. No charge was read out, but according to the official documents seen in court the five are charged with kidnapping. South African law lays down no maximum sentence for the offence and legal experts said the five could be sentenced to death if found guilty. The men freed on bail yesterday were ordered to surrender their passports and report to the police once a

week. The other four with Hoare, who is 62, were Tullio Moneta, aged 42, an Italian born in South Africa and a well-known local film actor; Peter Duffy, a 40-year-old freelance photographer who carries a British passport but has been a longtime resident of Durban; Ken Dalgleish, a 32-year-old Briton; and Charles Goatley, aged 27, from Zimbabwe. A further court hearing was set for January 7. Family friends, meanwhile, identified a dead mercenary whose body was brought to South Africa on the hijacked Indian Boeing 707 as Johan Fritz, aged 24. He lived in a plush suburb of Johannesburg with his father, who is head of the gold and uranium division of the giant General Mining Company. In Victoria, the Seychelles Government yesterday paraded before the international press two of the five white mercenaries which it says it captured during the coup attempt. The Government said it’s looking for three men still at large. The two men, with bruised and swollen faces, led out from cells in the capital’s small prison were both whites from -Zimbabwe and authorities said two South Africans and a Briton were also held. Standing in front of his cell, Aubrey Brooks, a stocky, bearded man of 38, said he believed the mercenary force’s mission was to bring Mr Mancham back to power. Brooks, who had a bandage around his thigh and limped when led out of his

cell, said: "I received a SUSIOOO down payment and never met the person who paid us.” “But I believe it was done on behalf of the former President. Mongon, Montson? I am not sure of his name,” Brooks said. The other captive mercenary who spoke to the press identified himself as Roger England, aged 26. President Rene, in his first international press conference since the coup attempt, said it had been planned well in advance. “We know that Mike Hoare came here about a year ago and made contact with some people here. Some Seychellois were then sent to South Africa.” Roger England said separately: “It was a coup attempt. We were supposed to take power bloodlessly and once we had taken power we would disappear and the local government would run the place.” Authorities displayed weapons and luggage left behind or captured in the fighting, including 10 neatlypacked Kalashnikov assault rifles with their stocks removed for easier packing. Among exhibits of the mercenaries’ possessions were suitcases with large stickers showing a foaming beer mug over the initials A.0.F.8. in bold black letters. The initials stood for: “Ancient Order of Foam Blowers,” a fictitious beerdrinking club in whose name the mercenaries had made their hotel bookings. Authorities had responded by arranging a programme which included a tour of the local brewery.