Zambia seeks to deny bail to five Egyptians and six Zambians charged with espionage for entering a restricted zone of Lusaka airport.
This comes two weeks after authorities said their plane had been seized along with guns, bullets, cash and fake gold.
A magistrates court in Lusaka charged the men on Monday, but yesterday magistrate Davies Chibwili deferred their application for bail until the following day after the defence rejected a prosecutor’s certificate denying bail to them.
Lawyers for the defendants said in a statement that they were on a plane that Zambia’s Drug Enforcement Agency searched on Aug. 13 at Lusaka’s main airport.
The agency said it found about US$5,7Â million in cash, five pistols, 126 rounds of ammunition and 602 pieces of suspected gold weighing around 127kg on the plane.
