Alleged mercenaries ‘may not have known of coup plot’

Cross-examined in the Pretoria Regional Court, James Kershaw (27), a former personal assistant of Simon Mann – one of the alleged planners of the coup – said he himself only found out about the alleged coup two days before the group flew out of SA. The eight men before court – Raymond Stanley Archer, Victor Dracula, Louis du Preez, Errol Harris, Mazanga Kashama, Neves Tomas Matias, Simon Morris Witherspoon and Hendrik Jacobus Hamman – have pleaded not guilty to a charge of contravening the Foreign Military Assistance Act. They were among a group arrested in March 2004 when they landed at Harare International Airport, allegedly to refuel and pick up military equipment on their way to join other suspected mercenaries arrested in Equatorial Guinea at about the same time. Defence Advocate Margie Victor, noting that Kershaw did not know about the plot until just days beforehand, despite being part of Mann\'s ‘inner circle’, asked if he could deny that the accused were also ignorant of it. ‘I cannot,’ he said. Kershaw said that a coup was not discussed at any meeting he attended. Full Mail & Guardian Online report