Simon Mann 935261 224675519 2008-07-09T22:36:49Z Zorrobot 7218328 robot Adding: [[no:Simon Mann]] {{Current court case|date=April 2008}} {{Infobox Military Person |name= Simon Mann |lived= {{Birth date and age|1952|06|26}} |placeofbirth=[[Aldershot]], [[England]] |placeofdeath= |image=[[Image:Simon Mann.jpg|300px|]] |caption= |nickname= |allegiance={{flagcountry|UK}} |serviceyears= |rank= |branch=[[Scots Guards]]<BR>[[Special Air Service|SAS]] |commands= |unit= |battles=[[Gulf War|1991 Gulf War]]<BR>Working for [[private military company|Private Military Companies]]: ----[[Sandline affair|Bougainville Uprising]]<BR>[[Sierra Leone Civil War]]<BR>Failed [[coup d'etat]] in [[Equatorial Guinea]] |awards= |relations= |laterwork= worked for a number of private military corporations including [[Sandline International]] }} {{for|other people called Simon Mann|Simon Mann (disambiguation)}} '''Simon Mann''' (born [[26 June]] [[1952]]) is a security expert, [[mercenary]] and former [[British Army]] officer, and [[South Africa]]n citizen extradited to [[Equatorial Guinea]] on [[1 February]] [[2008]].<ref name="independent_Feb_2008">{{cite web |date=Saturday, 2 February 2008|url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/zimbabwe-sends-british-mercenary-to-face-the-despot-he-plotted-to-overthrow-777194.html|title = Zimbabwe sends British mercenary to face the despot he plotted to overthrow|format = HTML |publisher = [[The Independent]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last=Andy McSmith and Basildon Peta |quote=}}</ref> He was accused of planning a ''[[coup d'etat]]'' to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea by leading a mercenary force into the capital [[Malabo]] in an effort to kidnap or kill President [[Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo]]. The charges in South Africa against him were dropped on [[23 February]] [[2007]],<ref name="DROP">{{cite web |date=Friday, 23 February 2007, 12:49 GMT|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6389623.stm|title = SA court drops coup plot charges|format = HTML |publisher = [[BBC News]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last= |quote=}}</ref> but the charges remained in Equatorial Guinea, where he was convicted in absentia in November 2004. He lost an extradition hearing to Equatorial Guinea after serving three years of a four-year prison sentence in [[Zimbabwe]] for the same crimes and being released early on good behavior.<ref name="independent_May_2007">{{cite web |date=Friday, 11 May 2007 |url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/coup-plotter-faces-life-in-africas-most-notorious-jail-448340.html|title = Coup plotter faces life in Africa's most notorious jail|format = HTML |publisher = pub| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last=Kim Sengupta |quote=}}</ref> On the arrival of Mann in Equatorial Guinea for his trial in Malabo, public Prosecutor Jose Olo Obono said that Mann would face three charges - crimes against the head of state, crimes against the government, and crimes against the peace and independence of the state.<ref name="bbc_2008-06-17">{{cite web |date=05:34 GMT, Tuesday, 17 June 2008 06:34 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7458274.stm|title = UK mercenary on trial in E Guinea|format = HTML |publisher = [[BBC News]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last= |quote=}}</ref> On [[July 7]] [[2008]], Mann was sentenced to 34 years and four months in prison by a court in Equatorial Guinea.<ref name=Jailed>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL0718254720080707 Mann jailed for for Eq. Guinea coup plot], Reuters, July 7, 2008.</ref> ==Early life== Simon Mann's father, [[George Mann]], captained the [[England cricket team]] in the late 1940s and was heir to the Watney Mann brewing empire that is now part of [[Diageo]]. George's father (Simon's grandfather) [[Frank Mann]], also captained the England cricket team in 1922/23. After leaving [[Eton College]], Simon Mann trained as an officer at [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst|Sandhurst]] and joined the [[Scots Guards]]. He later became a member of the [[Special Air Service|SAS]] and served in [[Cyprus]], [[Germany]], [[Norway]] and [[Northern Ireland]] before leaving the forces in 1985. He was re-called to action from the reserves for the [[Gulf War]]. ==Becoming a mercenary== Mann then entered the field of [[computer security]]; however, his interest in this industry lapsed when he returned from his service in the Gulf and he entered the oil industry to work with [[Tony Buckingham]]. Buckingham also had a military background and had been a [[professional diving|diver]] in the [[North Sea oil]] industry before joining a [[Canadian]] oil firm. In 1993 [[UNITA]] rebels in [[Angola]] seized the port of [[Soyo]], and closed its oil installations. The Angolan government under [[Jose Eduardo dos Santos]] sought mercenaries to seize back the port and asked for assistance from Buckingham who had by now formed his own company. Buckingham hired a South African organization called [[Executive Outcomes]] and Mann and Buckingham now became involved in Executive Outcomes' mercenary activities. ==Sandline International== {{Main|Tim Spicer}} Mann went on to establish [[Sandline International]] with [[Tim Spicer]] in 1996. The company operated mostly in [[Angola]] and [[Sierra Leone]] but in 1997 the Sandline received a commission from the government of [[Papua New Guinea]] to suppress a rebellion on the island of [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]] and the company came to international prominence. Sandline International announced the closure of the company's operations on [[April 16]] [[2004]]. ==Equatorial Guinea coup scandal== On [[March 7]] [[2004]] Simon Mann and 69 others were arrested in Zimbabwe when their [[Boeing 727]] was seized by security forces during a stop-off at [[Harare]] airport where the aircraft was due to be loaded with £100,000 worth of weapons and equipment. The men were charged with violating the country’s immigration, firearms and security laws and later accused of engaging in an attempt to stage a [[coup-d'etat]] in [[Equatorial Guinea]]. Meanwhile eight suspected mercenaries, one of whom later died in prison, were detained in Equatorial Guinea in connection with the alleged plot. Mann and the others claimed that they were not on their way to Equatorial Guinea, but were in fact flying to the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] in order to provide security for diamond mines owned by [[JFPI Corporation]]. Mann and his colleagues were put on trial in Zimbabwe and on [[August 27]] Mann was found guilty of attempting to buy arms for an alleged coup plot and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment.<ref name="BBC_2004-08-27">{{cite web |date=Friday, 27 August, 2004, 16:21 GMT 17:21 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3605346.stm|title = 'Mercenary leader' found guilty|format = HTML |publisher = [[BBC News]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last= |quote=}}</ref> Sixty-six of the other men were acquitted.<ref name="bbc_2004-09-10">{{cite web |date=Friday, 10 September, 2004, 13:08 GMT 14:08 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3643250.stm|title = Zimbabwe jails UK 'coup plotter'|format = HTML |publisher = [[BBC News]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last= |quote=}}</ref> On [[August 25]], Sir [[Mark Thatcher]], son of former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]], was arrested at his home in [[Cape Town]], South Africa. He eventually pleaded guilty (under a plea bargain) to negligently supplying financial assistance for the plot.<ref name="timesonline_2008">{{cite web |date=June 8, 2008|url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4066733.ece|title = Mark Thatcher: Man on the run|format = HTML |publisher = [[The Sunday Times]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last=Russell Miller |quote=in January 2005 Sir Mark pleaded guilty in South Africa, after a plea bargain, to “unwittingly” abetting the coup. He was fined 3 million rand (£266,000), given a suspended four-year jail term, and obliged to leave South Africa, his home for a decade.}}</ref> The 14 men in the mercenary advance guard that were caught in Equatorial Guinea were sentenced to jail for 34 years.<ref name="bbc_2004-11-26">{{cite web |date=Friday, 26 November, 2004, 21:58 GMT|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4044305.stm|title = Coup plotters jailed in E Guinea|format = HTML |publisher = [[BBC News]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last= |quote=}}</ref> Among the advance guard was [[Nick du Toit]] who claimed that he had been introduced to Thatcher by Mann.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Investigations would later reveal in financial records of Mann's holdings that large transfers of money to Nick du Toit, as well as approximately US$2 million coming in from an untraceable and unknown source.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} On September 10, Simon Mann was sentenced to seven years in jail. His compatriots received year sentences for violating immigration laws and their two pilots got 16 months. The group's [[Boeing 727]] was seized, as well as the US$180,000 that was found on board the plane. ===Charges dropped and extradition=== On [[23 February]] [[2007]], the charges were dropped against Mann and the other alleged conspirators in South Africa. Mann remained in Zimbabwe, where he was convicted of charges from the same incident.<ref name="DROP"/> On [[2 May]] [[2007]] a Zimbabwe court ruled that Mann should be [[extradited]] to Equatorial Guinea to face charges. The Zimbabwean judge ruled that he should be extradited to Equatorial Guinea, although the Zimbabweans have promised that he will not be faced with the death penalty. His extradition has been described as the "oil for Mann" deal, in reference to the large amounts of oil that Mugabe has managed to secure from Equatorial Guinea. The [[Black Beach]] prison in Equatorial Guinea, where Mann is likely to be sent, is notorious for its bad conditions. Inmates rarely get medical treatment and are often starved and tortured. One of Mann's co-conspirators has already died at Black Beach.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Mann lost his last appeal against the decision to extradite him.<ref name="bbc_2008-06-17"/><ref>[http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=2&subID=1736 Mann in the middle of two African dictators] Hugh Russel The First Post May 2, 2007</ref> In a last ditch effort on [[January 30]], [[2008]], Mann tried to appeal the judgment to the Zimbabwean Supreme Court.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7219025.stm BBC NEWS, Mann loses extradition appeal]</ref> The next day Mann was deported to Equatorial Guinea in secret, leading to claims by his lawyers that the extradition was hastened to defeat the possibility of appeal to the Supreme Court.<ref name="bbc_2008-02-01">{{cite web |date=Friday, 1 February 2008, 11:35 GMT|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7221948.stm|title = Zimbabwe deports Mann to E Guinea|format = HTML |publisher = [[BBC News]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last= |quote=}}</ref><ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2252532,00.html |title=Zimbabwe accused as Briton sent to Equatorial Guinea jail | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited |publisher=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=2008-02-05 |last=David Pallister }} </ref> ===Response by UK Parliamentarians=== Concern for Simon Mann's plight was raised in the UK Parliament in the year of his arrest in Zimbabwe by three [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Members of Parliament.<ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[18 March]] [[2004]] |place=Debates |speaker=[[Henry Bellingham]] |column=449 |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2004-03-18.449.0#g459.0 |title=Business of the House}}</ref><ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[20 May]] [[2004]] |place=Written answers |speaker=[[Peter Bottomley]] |column=1168W |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2004-05-20.173548.h |title=Foreign and Commonwealth affairs - Simon Mann}}</ref><ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[9 December]] [[2004]] |place=Written answers |speaker=[[Hugo Swire]] |column=730W |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2004-12-09a.201351.h |title=Foreign and Commonwealth affairs - Simon Mann}}</ref> In the two years after government of Equatorial Guinea applied for his extradition, three further Conservative Party MPs submitted written questions.<ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[5 June]] [[2006]] |place=Written answers |speaker=[[Ben Wallace]] |column=317W |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2006-06-05e.74618.h |title=Foreign and Commonwealth affairs - Equatorial Guinea}}</ref><ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[14 December]] [[2006]] |place=Written answers |speaker=[[James Arbuthnot]] |column=1302W |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2006-12-14d.109181.h |title=Foreign and Commonwealth affairs - Simon Mann}}</ref><ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[7 July]] [[2007]] |place=Written answers |speaker=[[Geoffrey Clifton-Brown]] |column=1005W |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-07-03b.146858.h |title=Foreign and Commonwealth affairs - Simon Mann}}</ref> However, it was the sudden extradition which drew the greatest response. [[Julian Lewis]] said in Parliament: {{cquote|My constituent, Mr. Simon Mann, has completed his jail sentence in Zimbabwe but has been transferred by the Mugabe regime to a potentially terrible fate in Equatorial Guinea, despite the fact that his appeals processes have not been completed and despite the assurances given to the British ambassador to Zimbabwe that that would not happen. May we have a statement as soon as possible on the Floor of the House from the Foreign Secretary about what action is going to be taken? Quiet diplomacy has failed and we now have to save Mr. Mann, whatever he has or has not done, from torture and a horrible death in a terrible situation.<ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[7 February]] [[2008]] |place=Debates |speaker=[[Julian Lewis]] |column=1134 |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-02-07b.1123.0#g1134.4 |title=Business of the House}}</ref>}} His position was supported by three other Conservative MPs during the debate.<ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[7 February]] [[2008]] |place=Debates |speaker=[[John Whittingdale]] |column=1137 |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-02-07b.1123.0#g1137.0 |title=Business of the House}}</ref><ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[7 February]] [[2008]] |place=Debates |speaker=[[Richard Benyon]] |column=1138 |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-02-07b.1123.0#g1138.3 |title=Business of the House}}</ref><ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[7 February]] [[2008]] |place=Debates |speaker=[[Mark Harper]] |column=1139 |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-02-07b.1123.0#g1139.1 |title=Business of the House}}</ref> Written questions were submitted by a fourth.<ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[18 February]] [[2008]] |place=Written answers |speaker=[[Iain Duncan Smith]] |column=181W |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2008-02-18e.186481.h |title=Foreign and Commonwealth affairs - Simon Mann}}</ref> There was a request for the United States administration, who has had access to Simon Mann in Black Beach Prison on 6 February 2008, to exert its influence "to secure [his] safe return".<ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[18 February]] [[2008]] |place=Written answers |speaker=[[Julian Lewis]] |column=180W |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2008-02-18e.185905.h |title=Foreign and Commonwealth affairs - Simon Mann}}</ref> UK officials were granted access to him on 12 February. <ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[20 February]] [[2008]] |place=Lords Written answers |speaker=[[Earl Cathcart]] |column=WA66 |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2008-02-20a.66.0 |title=House of Lords - Equatorial Guinea: Simon Mann}}</ref> The only non-Conservative Party MP to submit a question in Parliament about him was Vince Cable,<ref>{{UK Parliament |date=[[21 February]] [[2008]] |place=Written answers |speaker=[[Vince Cable]] |column=180W |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2008-02-21b.187341.h |title=Foreign and Commonwealth affairs - Equatorial Guinea: Prisoners}}</ref> although an Early Day Motion about his treatment in prison has received cross-party support.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35742&SESSION=891|title=EDM: Conduct of Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea towards Mr Simon Mann|date=[[6 May]] [[2008]]|publisher=UK Parliament}}</ref> ===Equatorial Guinea trial=== [[Robert Young Pelton]], who was in Equatorial Guinea at the time took the first and only photographs of Simon Mann in Black Beach prison which were published in the ''[[Daily Mail]]''.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Although Mann's lawyer, the media and his wife Amanda (who has never phoned him or visited him){{Fact|date=June 2008}} insisted he was being mistreated the UK Ambassador Harris and the US Intel Officer visited Mann and confirmed he is in good health and good spirits.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} However, given Equatorial Guinea's dictatorship, and extremely bad human rights record, there cannot be a true guarantee. In a recent interview broadcast on Channel Four, Mann was filmed shackled with red wounds on both his arms and legs caused by the restraints.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Furthermore Channel Four, whilst being told repeatedly by Mann (arguably under duress) and a Guinean official of the good conditions of Black Beach, noted no filming or viewing inside the prison was allowed. On 8 March 2008, [[Channel 4]] in the UK won a legal battle to broadcast an interview with Mann in which he sensationally named British political figures, including Ministers, alleged to have given tacit approval to the coup plot.<ref name="transcript">[http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_politics/mann+i+was+not+the+main+man/1761247 I was not the main man] Jonathan Miller ''Channel 4'' March 11 2008</ref> In testimony that could prove highly damaging to the Government, he spoke 'frankly' about the events leading to the botched attempt to topple Equatorial Guinea's president.<ref name="transcript" /> On [[7 July]] [[2008]], Mann was sentenced by the Equatorial Guinea court to more than thirty four years in jail.<ref name=Jailed/> ==Mann in popular media== *In 2002 Mann played Colonel Wilford of the [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|Parachute Regiment]] for [[Granada Television]]'s ''[[Bloody Sunday (film)|Bloody Sunday]]'', a dramatization by [[Paul Greengrass]] of the events of [[Bloody Sunday (Northern Ireland 1972)|Bloody Sunday]]. *The alleged coup planned for Equatorial Guinea is the subject of the film ''Coup!'', written by [[John Fortune]]. Simon Mann is played by [[Jared Harris]], with [[Robert Bathurst]] as Mark Thatcher. (The film takes care not to suggest that Thatcher knew about the coup plot.) It was broadcast on BBC 2 on [[June 30]] [[2006]] and on ABC (Australia) on [[January 21]] [[2008]].<ref name="coup">{{cite web |date=June 30th 2006|url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/coup/|title = BBC Drama - Coup!|format = HTML|publisher = [[BBC]]| accessdate = 2008-06-17 | last= |quote=}}</ref> *Miramax Films reportedly is in development of a feature film version of Wonga, and production company, Shooting Stars (London) Ltd are also developing a feature loosely based on the press accounts of the Equatorial Guinea attempted Coup, entitled "Overthrow."{{Fact|date=June 2008}} ==See also== *[[Executive Outcomes]] *[[Mark Thatcher]] *[[Sandline International]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==Further reading== *{{cite book | last = Robert Young Pelton | authorlink = Robert Young Pelton | title = Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror|edition= Reprint edition (August 28, 2007)|pages= 368 | publisher = Three Rivers Press| isbn= 1400097827}} - covers the coup attempt and aftermath by Nick du Toit and Simon Mann *{{cite book | last = Robert Young Pelton| authorlink = Robert Young Pelton| title = Three Worlds Gone Mad: Dangerous Journeys through the War Zones of Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific|edition= First edition (December 1, 2003)|pages= 320 | publisher = The Lyons Press| isbn= 1592281001}} - covers the birth and rise of Executive Outcomes and Sandline as well as the events in Sierra Leone and Bougainville * {{cite book | author=Roberts, Adam | title=The Wonga Coup, Guns, Thugs and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa | publisher=Public Affairs | year=2006 | id=ISBN 978-1586483715}} ==External links== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3916465.stm Profile: Simon Mann], ''BBC News'' September 10, 2004 *[http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/search?q=simon+mann&submit=go Simon Mann Dossier], by Journalismus Nachrichten von Heute *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3597450.stm Q&A: Equatorial Guinea coup plot], BBC *[http://www.oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/2534432/ A Coup for a Mountain of Wonga] *[http://www.oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/3337634/ British Mercenary Simon Mann's last Journey?] *[http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/5007420/ The trial of Simon Mann] *[http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=535191&in_page_id=1811 Mail on Sunday 16-03-2008 : Interview with Simon Mann] *{{imdb name|id=1115931|name=Simon Mann}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Simon}} [[Category:1952 births]] [[Category:Scots Guards officers]] [[Category:Special Air Service officers]] [[Category:Sandhurst graduates]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Mercenaries]] [[Category:Old Etonians]] [[Category:British prisoners and detainees]] [[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Zimbabwe]] [[Category:South African prisoners and detainees]] [[de:Simon Mann]] [[es:Simon Mann]] [[fr:Simon Mann]] [[no:Simon Mann]]