Zuma’s bid to force Downer’s removal from arms deal case dismissed

Former president and MK party leader Jacob Zuma’s appeal application to have the lead prosecutor recused from his arms deal corruption trial has been dismissed.

Zuma appeared in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday, where Judge Nkosinathi Chili handed down the ruling.

In February, Jacob Zuma’s legal team filed for leave to appeal Judge Chili’s decision to dismiss the recusal application against Advocate Billy Downer.

The former president argues that prosecutor Billy Downer should be removed from the case due to alleged bias, claiming his continued involvement would compromise the right to a fair trial.

Judgement

Chili referred to case law, which states that leave to appeal should only be granted when the appeal application has reasonable prospects of success.

In dismissing Zuma’s application for Downer’s removal, Chili said he considered “all the facts” that the former president argued as a basis for Downer to be forced to step down.

Chili said he does not believe Zuma’s right to a fair trial would be compromised if Downer remains as prosecutor.

The judge added that he does not believe there is a reasonable prospect that another court will differ with his ruling on Zuma’s application for Downer’s removal.

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Zuma to appeal

During a brief adjournment following Judge Chili’s ruling, Zuma conferred with his advocate, Dali Mpofu, to discuss his next legal move.

Chili then began hearing submissions on an application by Zuma’s co-accused, French arms company Thales, for an acquittal based on its claims that two of its key witnesses have died.

However, Mpofu then interjected Advocate Barry Roux representing Thales. Roux famously represented Paralympian Oscar Pistorius during his murder trial.

Mpofu presented the instruction from Zuma to Chili.

“We took advantage of the break, and because the judgement wasn’t too long to place on the record, we have instructions in respect of the matter.

“We now have instructions, my lord, to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in respect of that matter,” Mpofu said.

Stalingrad strategy

Zuma has filed a series of applications and appeals, asking Downer to be removed from the prosecution over alleged bias, saying his right to a fair trial would be infringed if the prosecutor remained.

In arguments before Chili in February, the state submitted that Zuma’s application to appeal the earlier ruling was a continuation of his so-called Stalingrad strategy, aiming to delay the criminal proceedings and avoid the charges altogether.

In September last year, Chili said he was satisfied that the submission that Zuma’s grounds for removing Downer were officially dealt with in previous litigation had merit.

The 83-year-old Zuma and French arms manufacturer, Thales, are facing multiple charges including fraud‚ corruption, money laundering, and racketeering, in connection with the controversial multibillion-rand arms deal procurement concluded in the late 1990s while he was vice president.

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