Scorpions appeal against court ruling

The Scorpions have launched a court appeal to try to get their hands back on documents seized from former deputy president Jacob Zuma's attorney, Julekha Mahomed *1.

They are also fighting to hold on to papers they took from the ANC heavyweight's Johannesburg and Durban homes, as well as documents seized from another Zuma attorney, Michael Hulley.

Mahomed's papers are being held by the Pretoria High Court after it ruled last Friday that the Scorpions' search warrants had been illegally obtained and executed. It also ruled that the search of Mahomed's offices fell foul of attorney-client privilege rules.

But the National Prosecuting Authority said yesterday it still believed the warrants were legal and it wanted Mahomed's documents back.

Until the court rules on the appeal, the authority is refusing to hand back Zuma's and Hulley's papers.

Hulley said yesterday he would follow Mahomed's example and apply for the papers to be returned, adding he was busy drawing up the application.

"We are left with no alternative," Hulley said. He was hoping that following Friday's court victory by Mahomed, all items seized from his office and the offices and homes of Zuma on August 16 would be returned voluntarily, avoiding another court conflict.

"We would have hoped the Mahomed judgment would have spelled things out clearly to them and influenced them to consent to the return of the items. But this hasn't happened," he said.

The National Prosecuting Authority confirmed Hulley had called, demanding the return of the papers, but said it had replied to him that the evidential material had been seized on the strength of search warrants granted by the Pretoria High Court and that it would keep the material in terms of the relevant warrants and also in view of the pending appeal process and its possible relevance to Hulley's matter.

"Furthermore, the authority is of the view that the documents seized at Mr Hulley's premises were purely of a financial nature and could not have been affected by the attorney-client privilege. However, the authority recognises the right of Mr Hulley, or any affected party, to challenge the warrants in court if they deemed it necessary."

Hulley said two separate applications would be launched in the Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg high courts next week.

These would challenge the raids on Zuma's homes in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and his office in Durban.

He said they would not be urgent applications "because no amount of urgency can undo their refusal to lodge the seized documents with the registrar".

He said "optimistically" both applications should be resolved by mid-October because the issues were straightforward.

On Friday, the Zuma camp scored an important victory when Johannesburg High Court Judge Ismail Hussain found in favour of an urgent application by Mahomed for the documents seized from her to be returned.

He found that the search warrants were obtained and executed unlawfully by the authority, saying that he was not convinced that all material facts had been disclosed when the search warrants had been applied for.

The judge also questioned whether Zuma's right to a fair trial had been compromised.

Zuma will appear in the Durban Magistrate's Court on October 11.

With acknowledgements to Tania Broughton, Alameen Templeton and The Mercury.