Luanda Trial

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Luanda Trial was a trial held in Luanda, Angola in 1976 by the MPLA, recently victorious in the Angolan Civil War to try thirteen foreign mercenaries who had fought for its rival, the FNLA.<ref>1976: Death sentence for mercenaries BBC On this day June 28</ref>

[edit] Sentencing

Guilty verdicts for all or some of 130 separate offenses, released on June 28, 1976, resulted in the following sentences^{[citation needed]}:

16 years' imprisonment for:

24 years' imprisonment for:

Lawlor (UK)
Evans (UK)
"Satch" Fortuin (UK)

30 years' imprisonment for:

Wiseman (UK)
Marchant (UK)
Gus Grillo (USA)

Execution by firing squad for:

The four condemned men were executed on July 10, 1976 by MPLA military police. MacKenzie, who had been seriously wounded in the leg and confined to a wheelchair, stood himself up on his remaining good leg to face the hail of bullets.

The two remaining American prisoners, Grillo and Acker, were released from prison in 1982 in a prisoner exchange worked out by the United States Department of State. The British prisoners were released in 1984 after eight years of negotiation by the British Foreign Office.^{[citation needed]}

The prisoners had a chance to leave prison during a 1977 coup attempt, when their guards offered to free them if they would become their leaders in the rebellion. All ten men chose to remain in their cells.The coup was eventualy put down^{[citation needed]}. A similar chance was offered, and declined, to the men imprisoned after Mike Hoare's attempted counter-coup against President René of the Seychelles^{[citation needed]}.