Johannesburg – The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday threw out ex-president Jacob Zuma’s bid to try the lead prosecutor in his much-delayed corruption case, removing another hurdle preventing the trial from moving ahead.
Zuma, who served as president from 2009 to 2018 before being forced out over graft allegations, faces charges of corruption in an arms scandal dating to the late 1990s.
In one of numerous attempts to derail the proceedings, his lawyers had launched a private prosecution against prosecutor Billy Downer and a local journalist, accusing the former of having leaked confidential medical documents to the latter.
But on Wednesday, the High Court in Pietermaritzburg ordered the case to be set aside.
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Zuma, 81, was told to pay legal costs and “interdicted” from further “pursuing any private prosecution… on substantially the same charges,” according to the judgement seen by AFP.
The verdict marks a loss for the former leader but not the end to legal delays that have braked the corruption case.
Zuma faces 16 counts of fraud, graft and racketeering relating to a contract to purchase fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms firms while he was vice president in a trial that formally started in May 2021.
In April the court ordered a four-month postponement after the judge presiding over the case stepped down, allowing for Zuma’s lawyers to submit a fresh bid to recuse Downer.
A previous attempt to remove Downer — which was separate from the private prosecution proceedings — had been dismissed by the outgoing judge.
Zuma is also seeking to have President Cyril Ramaphosa prosecuted in relation to the case, over accusations he had an accessory role in the leaking of Zuma’s medical papers.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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