Zuma loses court bid to remove Billy Downer from corruption trial
Former president Jacob Zuma has lost his bid force the removal of advocate Billy Downer from his arms deal corruption trial.
Former president Jacob Zuma has lost his bid force the removal of advocate Billy Downer from his arms deal corruption trial.
The judgment was handed down in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday morning by Judge Nkosinathi Chili.
JUDGE CHILI NOT CONVINCED BY ZUMA’S ARGUMENT TO REMOVE BILLY DOWNER
Delivering his ruling – with Zuma not in court but represented by advocate Dali Mpofu – Chili said he was not convinced that Downer’s status as lead prosecutor on the case would prejudice Zuma and violate the former president’s right to a fair trial.
“Having heard submissions made by counsel, the relevant case law and most importantly the four pillars relied upon by Mr Zuma, I am not persuaded that Mr Zuma succeeded in establishing that the retention of Mr Downer as the prosecutor in this matter could prejudice his right to a fair trial [as] enshrined in section 35, subsection 3, of the Constitution.
“I therefore make the following order: the application for the removal of Mr Downer as the public prosecutor in the criminal prosecution of Mr Zuma and Thales South Africa [accused number two in the case] is dismissed,” Chili said in his judgment.
[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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Speaking after the judgment, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, told journalists outside the court that the latest court action was another “baseless attempt to delay the trial unreasonably”.
“We have been ready years ago,” Mhaga responded when asked if the state was ready to proceed to trial.
Mondli Thusini, appearing for Zuma, told the journalists that they would be appealing the judgment.
Chili postponed the case May 2024 for a pre-trial conference.
COURT HAS PREVIOUSLY DISMISSED ZUMA’S BID TO REMOVE PROSECUTOR
This is Zuma’s second bid to remove Downer from the case, after failing to get relief from Judge Piet Koen in the same court.
In 2021, the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that Downer would continue with Zuma’s prosecution. Zuma then requested leave to appeal Koen’s judgment but this was also dismissed.
The move to remove Downer comes after Zuma made claims that the prosecutor leaked important information, including medical details, about him to the media. He argued that due to this alleged infraction, Downer would not deliver a fair trial against him therefore wants him removed.
In 2023, Zuma attempted to privately prosecute Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan but the case was dismissed, with an appeal also later thrown out of court.
Zuma claims that the medical and case information leaked by Downer, was leaked to Maughan.
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