Four face death penalty over unlikely African coup attempt

A HONG KONG-born waiter and three Vietnamese boat people face a possible death sentence next month when they stand trial in a tiny West African state accused of one of the most unlikely coup attempts in the trouble-torn region.

Kelvin Law Shu-kee and the three other Asians, all naturalised Britons, are alleged to be mercenaries who were plotting to overthrow Sierra Leone's military dictatorship when they were arrested on October 14, 1993.

Law, 32, Ly Bui Vinh, 24, Ly Bui Hai, 32, and Ly Nhat Mui, 50, have been held for more than a year in a crowded cell in the country's main jail in the capital, Freetown, after being detained in the Mammy Yoko hotel.

A fifth man, local Chinese restaurateur Robert Charm, was arrested on December 30, 1993, but was later released.

According to prosecutors, the men had been sent to Sierra Leone by the former deputy head of state, Captain Solomon Musa, to depose the country's ruler, Valentine Strasser.

However, the main evidence against Law and his three companions is a tape recording implicating the men - which has not been produced yet - and a road map found in their hotel and marked with what the prosecution claim are strategic sites for an attack.

The men, three of whom live and work in the Birmingham area of Britain, were not carrying any weapons when arrested.