Publication: The Star Issued: Date: 2008-02-29 Reporter: Hassan Reporter: Parsee Reporter: Poovalingam

Accepting Court's Judgment is Not an Admission of Guilt

 

Publication 

The Star
Date

2008-02-29
Reporter Hassan, Parsee,
Poovalingam

Web Link

www.thestar.co.za

 

We act on behalf of Schabir Shaik and the Corporate Accused, and indeed represented them at the Constitutional Court on February 26.

We were surprised and appalled at the level of reporting by your reporter Karyn Maughan, when she reported that lawyers acting for Shaik admitted that he had bribed the former deputy president of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma (current president of the ANC).

The writer immediately took this matter up with your reporter and she confirmed that she would correct the inaccuracy in the story.

Our clients were disgusted to find the story repeated in the afternoon papers, despite the foregoing undertaking.

After discussions with your (editor Moegsien) Williams and the aforementioned reporter, it was intimated that the story would be corrected and placed in its proper context, namely that counsel acting on behalf of our clients had merely accepted that the judgments of the Supreme Court of Appeal and trial court were binding on our clients to the extent that there was a finding that payments that were made by Mr Shaik to Mr Zuma were made in contravention of the law.

This acceptance of the judgments as being binding can in no way be construed as an admission by our client of any corruption or confession of any bribe.

In the context, counsel accepted that the factual findings in the criminal trial and appeal court could not be revisited by the Constitutional Court, which had refused Leave to Appeal in respect of those judgments.

Advocates MSM Brassey SC, Nirmal Singh SC, H Gani and Attorney Reeves Parsee hereby place on record that no confession was made on our client's behalf and any suggestion thereof is ill-conceived and mischievous to say the least.

Such reporting does not further the interest of justice, it has created danger *1 to our client, not to mention the political implications of the suggestion that our client acted as your reporter states.

Hassan, Parsee and Poovalingam
Durban

With acknowledgements to Hassan, Parsee, Poovalingam and The Star.
 


*1       The concession does not so much create danger for Mr Shaik and his Corporate Accused, but for his Beneficiary Mr Zuma and to an extent his Benefactor, The Two Thints.

But the use of the conceding response "Oh, decidedly" by senior counsel is always likely to get a court report drooling.