 Other members of the group are still serving sentence in Zimbabwe |
Eight men appeared briefly in the Pretoria High Court in South Africa on Monday, in connection with an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. They face charges of breaking South African anti-mercenary laws. The court set 31 July as the date for their trial to begin.
The men were among 61 South Africans who were arrested when their aircraft landed in Zimbabwe in 2004.
They served a year in jail for breaking Zimbabwe's aviation and firearms laws.
No charges are being laid against the other 53 men.
Also last year, Sir Mark Thatcher - son of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - fell foul of South Africa's anti-mercenary laws in relation to the alleged coup plot and was given a suspended jail term and fined after agreeing a plea bargain to help investigators.
The alleged ringleader of the plot, Briton Simon Mann, and the two pilots of the plane, remain in prison in Zimbabwe on longer sentences.
In Equatorial Guinea, 14 other people were found guilty of charges linked to the alleged coup attempt, including plot leader Nick du Toit who received a 34-year jail sentence.
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