Zuma, Thint: 'State must purge its dirty hands'

African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma and the French arms company Thint on Friday opposed any attempt to obtain documents from Mauritius, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported.

They filed their heads of arguments in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday in a case focused on documents pertaining to an alleged meeting between Zuma, former Thint chief executive Alain Thetard and businessman and fraud convict Schabir Shaik.

The public broadcaster reported that both Zuma and Thint contended that the state did not approach the court with clean hands, claiming that the state’s conduct was unconstitutional.

Zuma’s lawyers argued that the appropriate remedy would be for the court to dismiss the application, and for the state to “purge its dirty hands by returning the copies of the documents to the Mauritian authorities”.

In papers before court, both Zuma and Thint state that search-and-seizure raids carried out in Mauritius were unlawful.

It is claimed that, in 2001, a Mauritius Supreme Court order did not authorise copies of the seized documents to be given to South African authorities and that it was improper for a South African court to adjudicate on the release of these documents.

Zuma’s legal team argued that the state was seeking to gain the upper hand by attempting to rectify the supposed flaws in its initial investigation against the former deputy president and Thint.

They insisted that by wanting to obtain the originals of the documents, the state sought to maintain and expand its ill-gotten advantages in this application.

Zuma’s lawyers also want the court to dismiss the state’s application with costs.

Meanwhile, in its heads of argument filed last week, the National Prosecuting Authority remained adamant that Zuma and Thint were using every trick to stop it from obtaining evidence for a possible trial. It felt there were reasonable grounds to believe that an act of corruption had been committed.

The matter has been set for argument in the Pietermaritzburg High Court next week.—Sapa