Alleged E. Guinea coup prisoners released

HARARE, Zimbabwe, May 15 (UPI) -- Zimbabwe has released 62 South Africans accused of involvement in a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, the BBC reported.

Alwyn Griebenow, a lawyer for the South Africans, said he was told by contacts in Zimbabwe that the men were being transported to the border, where he planned to meet them Sunday morning.

The men, who deny involvement in the plot, spent a year in prison after their arrest last March on an aircraft allegedly headed for Equatorial Guinea. The men said they were recruited to provide security for a Congolese mine.

The sentences expired earlier in the week, but their release was delayed by unspecified security concerns, Zimbabwean authorities said. They had not yet confirmed the release Sunday morning.

Three men arrested alongside the 62 remained imprisoned Sunday. British citizen Simon Mann is serving a four-year sentence, and two South African pilots are awaiting an expected July release.

Fourteen others were found guilty in Equatorial Guinea of charges linked to the coup plot, including leader Nick du Toit who received a 34-year jail sentence.