African National Congress president Jacob Zuma has lodged papers in a Mauritius appeal court over documents that the National Prosecuting Authority is trying to secure, Beeld reported on Monday.
Michael Hulley, Zuma’s lawyer, confirmed this over the weekend. He did now know long it would take for the Mauritian court to finalise the matter.
Zuma’s appeal was against a finding last month by a high court in Mauritius. In terms of this ruling, Zuma was not allowed to be a party in the lawsuit in which the attorney general of Mauritius had asked the
court for leave to hand over the relevant documents to the NPA.
The court ruled that Zuma could attend the proceedings as an observer, but not participate.
Zuma’s appeal could lead to a delay in the planned prosecuting of him and French weapons manufacturer Thint on charges including fraud and corruption.
The documents in Mauritius were originals of copies used during the trial of Zuma’s former financial advisor Schabir Shaik.
The NPA had to obtain the original documents for the Zuma trial to meet the requirements of ”best evidence”.
Meanwhile, Judge Chris Nicholson has been tipped to be the judge in Zuma’s corruption trial, the newspaper said.
Legal initiative
Meanwhile, the ANC Youth League plans to launch its own legal initiative if Zuma fails in his bid to have his trial scrapped.
The ANCYL, with the Young Communist League (YCL), various other youth organisations and the ANC Women’s League, pledged last week to mobilise South Africans in support of Zuma.
Youth league president Julius Malema pledged that the league will launch its own legal ”initiative” if Zuma’s application for a permanent stay fails, but he was thin on details about what it will be.
”We will leave that to our legal teams. We will launch our own initiative immediately [after the ruling is given].”
The league and the MK Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) have sought legal advice on how to help Zuma in his trial, which they insist is a political trial and therefore cannot be fair.
The leagues, coming together, will consolidate reports from the ANCYL and veterans’ association and plan ahead to ensure that the trial does not prevent Zuma from becoming president of the country in 2009.
The group will launch a signature campaign in support of Zuma for his coming trial that is scheduled to begin on August 4. A night vigil is planned for the Sunday evening before the trial. – Sapa, M&G reporter