South Africa Court rejects ex-Prez Zuma's application, rules case against him to continue

On Tuesday, the Pietermaritzburg High Court dismissed former South African President Jacob Zuma's attempt to get a prosecutor removed from his corruption case. Zuma submitted a special application seeking to remove prosecutor Billy Downer from his case, accusing him of biasness. However, Judge Piet Koen dismissed Zuma's application, allowing the former president's corruption case to move forward. According to the judge, the trial will resume on April 11, 2022, reported The Associated Press (AP). "I conclude that Mr Zuma's complaints, even if taken at face value, do not affect the title of Mr Downer to prosecute,” said Koen delivering the judgment as reported by the news agency. 

Meanwhile, Zuma's lawyers have stated that they will analyse the ruling before deciding whether or not to appeal the decision. It is worth mentioning here that 79-year-old Zuma is accused of corruption, fraud, and money laundering in connection with the country's contentious 1999 arms acquisition. He is accused of accepting bribes from Thales, a French armaments manufacturer, through his former financial advisor Schabir Shaik, who was convicted of similar allegations in 2005. 

Jacob Zuma serving 15-month prison sentence

Zuma made one of his first public appearances in the court on Tuesday since his release from prison in September. He was freed on medical parole after completing nearly two months of his 15-month prison sentence for disobeying a Constitutional Court order to testify in a corruption investigation during his presidency from 2009 to 2018. "This has been a long process that now needs to come to a conclusion," Mthunzi Mhaga, a spokeswoman for the National Prosecuting Authority, said referring to Zuma's efforts to have the prosecutor removed and other tactics to delay the trial. 

Earlier in the month of August, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa claimed that there was rampant state corruption while he was President Jacob Zuma's deputy. Ramaphosa also admitted that resigning would have made his efforts to combat corruption more difficult. He further stated that he had only five options at that time: resign, speak out, succumb and abet, remain silent, or persevere and resist. He stated, however, that resigning from his job would have severely hindered his ability to aid in the fight against corruption, reported the news agency. 

With AP inputs

Image: AP