Thatcher bust sparks frenzy
August 26, 2004 Edition 1
Tony Weaver and Jeremy Michaels, Sapa and Reuters
After a nine-hour-long session at the hands of the Scorpions, coup suspect Sir Mark Thatcher has been released on R2-million bail.
He was charged yesterday with bankrolling the alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.
The Scorpions came knocking at 7am yesterday, followed by an exhaustive search of his house and computer records, and his being fingerprinted and photographed.
But this was just the beginning - the British tabloid media is in a feeding frenzy over the fate of the 49-year-old son (some reports say he is 51) of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
It was a relatively restrained group of about 30 journalists, photographers and television crew members who gathered outside Thatcher's home in an upmarket Cape Town suburb yesterday - but the British media was said to be streaming in overnight.
Several members of the British media, including correspondents from the BBC, Sky News, The Sun, the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, remarked on the lack of paparazzi killer instinct outside his home.
"If this had been back home, the media mob would have been storming the front door by now," one remarked.
Throughout the day, Scorpions investigators could be seen moving about the house, occasionally moving outside to confer.
At 2.15pm, a smiling Thatcher was ushered into a black Scorpions' VW Golf and driven to the Wynberg Magistrate's Court, followed by a long procession of media vehicles.
He was driven in through a back entrance, and after a wait of nearly two hours, during which his lawyers and the prosecution haggled over his bail conditions, was finally brought into the dock.
Thatcher was formally charged with contravening two sections of the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act - the law that, among other things, expressly prohibits South African residents from engaging in mercenary activity.
He has been extensively linked by the British media to Simon Mann, the leader of the group of 70 alleged mercenaries on trial in Zimbabwe.
Scorpions spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said the charges relate "specifically to the financial backing of the alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea", for which 18 alleged mercenaries, including eight South Africans, are on trial.
Yesterday, prosecutor Torie Pretorius said Thatcher allegedly put up $275 000 (about R1,8-million) to partly finance the attempt to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
After his brief appearance before a jam-packed courtroom, Thatcher was released on condition that he lodge security of R2-million with the court by 2pm on September 6.
Until he pays the bail, he is under virtual house arrest - the order forbids him from leaving his house without written permission from the investigating officers or a designated state advocate.
Thatcher has to hand in all passports, travel documents and air tickets in his possession, has to report daily to the police in Wynberg, and is not allowed to leave the Cape Peninsula.
He is also banned from having any contact with any of the state witnesses in the case, and has to reappear in court on November 25.
While Thatcher remained tight-lipped, one of his attorneys, Alan Bruce-Brand, said outside court: "Mr Thatcher has been co-operating with the authorities since before today, and he intends to continue co-operating.
"He effectively has been released on a warning ... but Mr Thatcher denies any wrongdoing."
In a statement released later, Thatcher said: "I am innocent of all charges made against me. I have been and am co-operating fully with the authorities in order to resolve the matter."
Reports that Thatcher was robbed while in the Wynberg Court cells were dismissed by both Bruce-Brand and the Scorpions' Ngwema.
"He was with members of the Scorpions and police officers the whole time, and never went into the holding cells proper," Ngwema said.
Ngwema also dismissed speculation that Thatcher's arrest had been deliberately timed to coincide with the visit to South Africa of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for high-level talks with the South African government.
"The investigating team only heard about Straw being here when we were asked questions about him by the British media this morning," he said. "We are purely an operational unit - the timing was a complete coincidence."
Straw himself refused to answer questions about Thatcher yesterday.
"It (Thatcher's arrest) will not have an impact on his (Straw's) visit down here," said Nick Sheppard, spokesperson for the British high commission in Pretoria, emphasising that the visit was about interministerial discussions.
"We ... will offer normal consular assistance that we would offer to any British citizen arrested abroad," he added.
The Scorpions seem confident that they have a watertight case against Thatcher.
"This man has a very serious case to answer in court," said Scorpions spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi. "The Scorpions unit does not just arrest people unless there is a very strong case."
Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma yesterday said there had been no request for Thatcher's extradition.
"There has been no request for any extradition of anybody, so I cannot say we will refuse - the question hasn't arisen," she said in response to a question in the National Assembly from Democratic Alliance MP Douglas Gibson.
"South Africa is perfectly capable of trying the matter properly and fairly in terms of our own mercenary legislation," she added.
Earlier in the day, Dlamini-Zuma repeated the South African government's opposition to the death penalty, which Thatcher could face if extradited to Equatorial Guinea.
Dlamini-Zuma also said the government would have to investigate Thatcher's status, as she was unsure whether he was a South African citizen or a permanent resident.
