He asks Mauritian court to stop NPA from getting 'damning' documents

Presidential hopeful Jacob Zuma has travelled more than 3 000km to wage a fresh legal battle against his prosecution for corruption.

The Star can confirm that Zuma yesterday served notice on the Mauritian Supreme Court, asking for the right to stop 13 documents - described by the state as "damning" evidence of corruption against him and French arms company Thint - from being handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

But Zuma's application, to be heard next week, is expected to be greeted by fierce opposition from the Mauritian Attorney-General's office, which has also signalled its opposition to Thint's bid to intervene.

Mauritian justice authorities are understood to have rebuffed Zuma's efforts, made through written correspondence from his lawyers, to intervene in the processing of the NPA's "letter of request".

So far, the Attorney-General's bid to process the NPA's request has taken place behind closed doors, with a gagging order being placed on the hearing by a local judge.

The disputed documents, used to convict Zuma's former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, of fraud and corruption, include the 2000 diary of former Thint representative Alain Thetard.

According to the state, the diary details a March 2000 meeting which ended with an agreement on a R500 000-a-year bribe for Zuma from Thint in exchange for Zuma's protection from a potentially damaging arms-deal inquiry.

It is understood both Zuma and Thint claim they have the right to argue against the release of the documents by the Mauritian Supreme Court, because it would impact on their rights.

Zuma has previously argued that even allowing the state to formally ask Mauritius for the documents would tarnish his global reputation and cause him to "suffer grave and potentially irreparable prejudice".

In documents filed prior to his election as ANC president, Zuma also threatened to appeal to the Mauritian government at a political level, based on his perception of a political conspiracy against him.

NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali yesterday confirmed that the state was aware of Zuma's Mauritian application, but could not comment "because it is being heard in a foreign jurisdiction".

Zuma's legal team yesterday also filed 46 pages of argument in SA's highest court, arguing against the Supreme Court of Appeal's support of the state's right to request the Mauritian documents.

The lawyers are also asking the Constitutional Court to overturn the August 2005 warrants used by the Scorpions to seize documents from Zuma and his attorneys. These show that Zuma received a total of 354 payments, valued at R4-million, from Shaik.

Zuma's legal team say the warrants used to seize the documents were "over-broad".

For instance, they claim the Scorpions seized a diary belonging to Zuma's late wife Kate - "a direct and gross violation of both privacy and dignity" - when they raided his home in Killarney, Joburg.

Zuma's Constitutional Court appeal will be heard on March 10 and 12.

With acknowledgements to Karyn Maughan and The Star.