Mercenary Simon Mann Gets Presidential Pardon


10:06am UK, Tuesday November 03, 2009
Lulu Sinclair, Sky News Online
Convicted mercenary Simon Mann has been pardoned in Equatorial Guinea and will be freed from jail shortly.


Mann and his four South African colleagues were given a "a full pardon for humanitarian reasons" by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
The presidential pardon said Mann, 57, was being freed because of his need "to receive regular medical treatment and to be with his family".
Eton-educated Mann was involved in an attempted coup attempt that entangled Mark Thatcher, son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
He was sentenced to 34 years in prison last year for plotting to overthrow the oil-rich country's government.

Mann and his cohorts in court last year


The former SAS officer had already spent three years in jail in Zimbabwe after being arrested along with dozens of mercenaries when his plane landed in Harare in 2004.
He was then extradited to Equatorial Guinea.
While Mann agreed he had taken part in the attempt to topple the government, he insisted he was not the ringleader.
The Equatorial Guinea information ministry said that Mann would have 24 hours to leave the country on his release.
His pardon comes of the eve of an official visit to the country by South African President Jacob Zuma.

Spoiler:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Mercenary-Simon-Mann-Pardoned-By-Equatorial-Guinea-After-Coup-Plot/Article/200911115430826?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15430826_Mercenary_Simon_Mann_Pardoned_By_Equatorial_Guinea_After_Coup_Plot