Pietermaritzburg — The Pietermaritzburg High Court has dismissed former president, Jacob Zuma’s application to have state advocate, Billy Downer, removed from his arms deal corruption trial.
This marks the second time that Zuma has failed to have Downer removed from his trial. Zuma claimed that Downer was biased against him and that it jeopardised his right to have a fair trial, however, the court ruled against him and said it was not pursauded, EWN reported.
The matter was heard in the Pietermaritzburg Court on Wednesday with Judge Nkosinathi Chili presiding. Chili dismissed Zuma’s latest bid to remove Downer as his prosecutor after finding that the former president failed to show that Downer’s continued presence as his prosecutor would violate his fair trial rights, The Citizen reported.
According to SABC News, In October last year, Zuma’s legal team argued that Downer should be excluded because the former President was privately seeking his prosecution for allegedly illegally leaking Zuma’s doctor’s letter to the media.
[BREAKING NEWS] Pietermaritzburg High Court dismisses former president #JacobZuma‘s application to have lead prosecutor Adv. #BillyDowner removed from the arms deal corruption trial.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
