South African prosecutors said they will reinstate corruption
charges against the country's former deputy president Jacob Zuma if
the judge in his trial refuses to grant them a postponement and
strikes the case from the roll.
“It would be in the best interest of the accused for a postponement to be granted,” said Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority told reporters outside the Pietermaritzburg high Court in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province today. If the case is struck from the roll prosecutors could re-open investigations against Zuma.
There would be no fixed timetable for the case to be brought to closure, Nkosi said. A few hundred Zuma supporters have gathered outside the court buildings singing and dancing, watched over by dozens of police officers who cordoned off the area.
Prosecutors had asked judge Herbert Msimang on September 5 to delay the trial until at least October 15 to give them more time to prepare a final indictment against Zuma. Msimang will start announcing his decision from 10 a.m. local time. That indictment will include new evidence from documents seized from Zuma, his lawyers and his co-accused, Thint Holdings Southern African and Thint Ltd.
Zuma, 64, is accused of trying to secure a bribe from the companies, South African units of Thales SA, Europe's largest military electronics maker, in exchange for protecting them from a probe into arms purchases by the state. Zuma denies any wrongdoing and says the charges are part of a political conspiracy against him.
Lawyers for Zuma had argued for the case to be dropped, saying their client's constitutional rights to a speedy and fair trial have been compromised because of the long delay in bringing charges against him. Zuma has been under investigation for six years.
Zuma is a leading contender to succeed Thabo Mbeki as president in 2009. He was fired by Mbeki is June last year after a court convicted his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, on corruption charges. The court found Shaik had tried to secure bribes for Zuma, made payments to him, and described their relationship as “generally corrupt.”
“It would be in the best interest of the accused for a postponement to be granted,” said Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority told reporters outside the Pietermaritzburg high Court in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province today. If the case is struck from the roll prosecutors could re-open investigations against Zuma.
There would be no fixed timetable for the case to be brought to closure, Nkosi said. A few hundred Zuma supporters have gathered outside the court buildings singing and dancing, watched over by dozens of police officers who cordoned off the area.
Prosecutors had asked judge Herbert Msimang on September 5 to delay the trial until at least October 15 to give them more time to prepare a final indictment against Zuma. Msimang will start announcing his decision from 10 a.m. local time. That indictment will include new evidence from documents seized from Zuma, his lawyers and his co-accused, Thint Holdings Southern African and Thint Ltd.
Zuma, 64, is accused of trying to secure a bribe from the companies, South African units of Thales SA, Europe's largest military electronics maker, in exchange for protecting them from a probe into arms purchases by the state. Zuma denies any wrongdoing and says the charges are part of a political conspiracy against him.
Lawyers for Zuma had argued for the case to be dropped, saying their client's constitutional rights to a speedy and fair trial have been compromised because of the long delay in bringing charges against him. Zuma has been under investigation for six years.
Zuma is a leading contender to succeed Thabo Mbeki as president in 2009. He was fired by Mbeki is June last year after a court convicted his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, on corruption charges. The court found Shaik had tried to secure bribes for Zuma, made payments to him, and described their relationship as “generally corrupt.”
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