Luanda Trial

Angola had gained its independence from Portugal on 11 November 1975, but the new country was immediately immersed in a three-sided civil war. The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) was supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba, while the United States and some of its allies backed the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Fourteen mercenaries fighting for the FNLA – nine British, three American and one Irish – were captured by MPLA forces by mid-February 1976. The MPLA Government invited a group of foreign observers to attend the trial. These included Jack Dromey, a British trade unionist who later became a Labour Party MP, and Stephen Sedley, later a UK High Court judge. ==Trial==

The trial lasted from 11 to 16 June. There were five judges. The presiding judge was Ernesto Teixeira da Silva, the Attorney General of Angola. British Prime Minister James Callaghan, Queen Elizabeth II, US President Gerald Ford, and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger requested that Angolan President Agostinho Neto to show mercy to the men. However, Neto refused to intervene."Mercenarism, instrument of the aggressive designs of imperialism … a scourge of the African continent and a grave threat to the peace, freedom and independence of the people. It is imperative that the practice of mercenarism be banished once and for all from our planet. It is urgent that all states and peace-loving forces fight it most energetically. We are applying justice in Angola not only in the name of our martyred people but also for the good of the brother peoples of Namibia, Zimbabwe and all the peoples of the world against whom imperialism is already getting ready to prepare new mercenary aggressions."The four condemned men were executed by MPLA military police on 10 July 1976. ==Aftermath==

The two remaining Americans, Grillo and Acker, were released in November 1982 in a prisoner exchange worked out by the United States Department of State. The British prisoners were released in February 1984 after negotiation by the British Foreign Office. == See also ==