 Some 7 Independent Company men became civilians in Rhodesia , which was reconstituted as Zimbabwe in 1980 . Two of them , Gervais Henri Alfred <unk> and Simon Marc <unk> ( both former Foreign Legionnaires ) , were executed in April 1983 , despite a late plea from French authorities for <unk> , having been found guilty of robbing and murdering Richard <unk> , a <unk> café owner . Witness <unk> , the <unk> Minister of Foreign Affairs , issued a statement clarifying that the execution was for the murder and unrelated to their earlier " service as mercenaries during the time of the Smith regime . " 
