Publication: Pretoria News
Issued:
Date: 2006-12-06
Reporter: Tania Broughton
Reporter: Jeremy Gordin
| Publication |
Pretoria News
|
| Date |
2006-12-06 |
|
Reporter
|
Tania Broughton, Jeremy Gordin |
|
Web Link
|
www.pretorianews.co.za
|
NPA
to make application to Mauritian high court for crucial documents
The
State has given its strongest indication yet that it intends to recharge ANC
deputy president Jacob Zuma with corruption.
It has been established
that the National Prosecuting Authority has given notice to Zuma and French arms
company Thint that it will apply for certain documents - crucial in the case
against Zuma - to be released by the Mauritian high court which is holding them
sealed by order.
These documents are believed to include the 2000 diary
of Alain Thetard, Thint's former local chief executive, who was effectively found by two local courts to have helped set up a
bribe for Zuma.
The NPA will make the application for the
documents on December 12 in the chambers of a Durban High Court judge.
The documents would be asked for in terms of section 2 (2) of the
International Co-operation on Criminal Matters Act.
Both Judge Hilary
Squires of the Durban High Court and a full bench of the Supreme Court of Appeal
(SCA) accepted - in the trial and appeal of Durban businessman Schabir Shaik -
that an encrypted fax sent by Thetard to his superiors at Thint in Paris and
Mauritius contained details of the request of a bribe of
R250 000 a year for Zuma *1.
When charges of corruption and fraud
against Zuma and Thint were struck off the roll in the Pietermaritzburg High
Court by Judge Herbert Q Msimang, the NPA indicated it would push ahead with its
"investigations" into the two parties, and would re-charge
both parties some time next year, once two search-and-seizure matters had been
heard by the SCA and once it had applied for the release of certain Thint
documents, including Thetard's diary.
If Zuma and Thint oppose
the application, the matter will probably be adjourned until next year for oral
argument.
Last night, Zuma's attorney Michael Hulley was not available
for comment but Jerome Brauns SC, one of Zuma's advocates, said the Zuma team
had already indicated it would oppose the application and Ajay Sooklal, Thint's
attorney, said Thint would definitely oppose the application.
Thetard's
diary allegedly has an entry indicating a meeting between himself, Zuma and "SS"
(Schabir Shaik), thus proving, according to the State, that a meeting took place
in Durban between the three "co-conspirators" when a bribe to Zuma from Thint
was agreed upon.
In March this year, four months before Zuma and Thint's
trial, the NPA attempted to get a similar order for a letter of request for
mutual legal assistance in terms of the International Co-operation in Criminal
Matters Act.
But Judge Pete Combrinck ruled that he could not grant the
order because this could only be done by the trial judge, who had not been
appointed at that time.
The inability of the prosecution to get the
documents was one of the issues raised in its unsuccessful application before
Judge Msimang for a postponement of the Zuma trial. Other issues were the
uncertainty around the legality of the search-and-seizure raids conducted on the
homes and offices of Zuma, his lawyers, family and business associates and Thint
representatives, and the outcome of Shaik's appeal before the SCA.
When
he refused the State's application for an adjournment and struck the case off
the roll, Msimang made it clear that these issues needed to
be resolved.
And now it seems the NPA is intent on getting its
ducks in a row and eliminating the obstacles which prevented the trial from
going ahead in July. Because there are no charges pending, the NPA is using a
different section of the Act which provides for the issuing of a letter of
request for information for use in an ongoing investigation.
In an
affidavit filed with the Durban High Court this week, investigating officer Isak
du Plooy said the investigation remained current.
"There is a reasonable prospect that charges could in future be re-instituted
against one or more of the erstwhile accused and/or others, more particularly since the Supreme Court of Appeal has in the
interim comprehensively confirmed the findings of the trial court (in the Shaik
appeal).
"However, the national director has not yet decided
whether to do so and, if so, on what charges. The indictment may differ in
certain respects (from the original), but is likely to contain at least the charges set out (in the original)."
In
an affidavit, Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy said it was important for the request for the documents to be finalised
soon. "The investigation has been ongoing since 2000 and should the
suspects be re-charged, they are almost certain to claim
their constitutional rights to a speedy trial have been infringed
*2."
With acknowledgements to Tania Broughton, Jeremy Gordin
and Pretoria News.
*1 Journalists still getting it
wrong; it is :
- 500 kZAR per year until ADS starts paying dividends
It's
sloppy and unprofessional to make unforced errors.
*2 Halleluya, some progress. But get this over
with.