By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Former South African President, Jacob Zuma, is calling for the removal of the lead prosecutor in his corruption case, Billy Downer, accusing him of being against him and that Downer compromised his (Zuma) right to fair hearing.
This comes as the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday, adjourned the trial till August 15 and 16.
Zuma is facing multiple counts of corruption, as well as racketeering, fraud, tax evasion and money laundering, with some of the charges relating to bribes he is alleged to have taken from French arms manufacturing company, Thales.
He was accused of taking the bribe to provide political protection for an arms deal worth more than $1 billion, signed by the South African government in 1999.
Zuma, has already succeeded in getting a new judge to preside over his trial.
Zuma is involved in a separate legal case against Downer and a journalist, over the leaking of the ex-president’s medical records by state prosecutors.
Thales, which was then known as Thomson-CSF, is a co-defendant in the corruption trial.
Some of the alleged wrongdoing date back to as far as the mid-1990s, yet Zuma, only went on trial two years ago, after the charges were dropped and reinstated multiple times amid political interference.
Judge Nkosinathi Chili, the new Judge, said Monday, that the case would resume August, when Zuma’s lawyers and prosecutors will present their arguments over whether Downer should remain on the case.
Zuma faces a minimum of 15 years in prison if he is convicted of involvement in major corruption.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Deadly rioting and looting broke out and more than 300 people were killed in a week of unrest, when Zuma was sentenced to a 15-month prison term in 2021 for contempt of court in relation to another corruption inquiry.
Zuma was released early from that jail sentence on medical parole.
