Simon Mann, a British mercenary who was charged with attempted coup and was sentenced to 34 years in prison has awarded a Presidential pardon by the government of Equatorial Guinea. Simon’s pardon plea was accepted largely due to his age and his constant need for medical attention. The government of Equatorial Guinea realized that, the convicted man, needs to be with his family, rather than serving time in prison.

Mr. Mann was arrested in the year 2004, along with 60 other mercenary commandos, when their plane landed in Zimbabwe. He has been granted complete pardon and has been allowed to leave the country immediately. However, a life long ban has been imposed on Simon, that prohibits him from entering Equatorial Guinea for the rest of his life.

Simon Mann is an ex-British army commando who had confessed to his part in an attempted coup to overthrow the incumbent President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. However, he also stated that, he was just a soldier in the coup army and had no part in plotting the coup attempt. He had also named a Lebanese businessman, Eli Calil, as the brains behind the coup plot. Also, the son of the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, Mark Thatcher has also been named as one of the key plotters of the coup. Thatcher was subsequently arrested, but he escaped the jail time by agreeing to pay a hefty fine.

As per the testimony provided by Simon Mann, he and the other commandos were arrested during a mission, in which the group was assigned the task of providing security to a diamond mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to Mann, the Lebanese businessman had asked him to assassinate President Mbasogo and also to plan for an extended guerrilla war with the government. But, Simon had refused both these plans, as they seemed unethical to him.

Via CNN.