The Pietermaritzburg High Court has reserved judgment in the application to drop corruption and racketeering charges against arms manufacturer Thales.
The French company is charged alongside former president Jacob Zuma in the arms deal corruption trial.
The state has argued that the impact of the death of two Thales directors implicated with former president Jacob Zuma in corruption must be weighed up at the end of the criminal trial.
The directors, Thetard and Moynot, died in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Presiding Judge Nkosinathi Chili earlier dismissed Zuma’s application for leave to appeal the court’s decision not to remove Advocate Billy Downer from the case.
This was Zuma’s second attempt to have Advocate Downer removed. Judge Nkosinathi Chili says, “I don’t see any prospects of a successful application on this matter in any other court.”
Thales
Thales, the second accused in the matter, launched a fresh application to have its charges dropped. The company’s legal team says the death of the two key witnesses means Thales will not have a fair trial.
Thales says proceeding with the charges against them would be a miscarriage of justice.
Thales’ legal representative, Adv. Barry Roux says, “Thales doesn’t have a case to answer, there is no one that is going to give evidence on behalf of Thales.”
Zuma supported Thales’ bid to have their charges dropped. He denied claims of trying to delay the start of the criminal trial.
Zuma’s lawyers say the state’s case is unwinnable. “Proceeding with this case would be an unconstitutional exercise, adding that the state can not win such a case without key witnesses,” argues Adv. Nqabayethu Buthelezi.
In opposing the application, the state says the death of the two witnesses cannot be used to prevent the trial from going ahead.
State prosecutor Adv. Andrew Breitenbach says, “When the court considers such an application, it has to also consider the seriousness of the charges that the accused are facing, adding that most of the witnesses who gave evidence during Shaik’s trial are still available to give their testimony.”
Advocate Breytenbach has told the court that the state has given its undertaking that it won’t object to evidence from the Schabir Shaik trial, which has a bearing on this case, being admitted as hearsay evidence.
Representing Zuma, Advocate Dali Mpofu told the court that Thetard would have been able to shed light on a fax allegedly documenting an agreement in 2000 to pay Zuma a bribe.
In 2018, both Zuma and Thales’ bid for a permanent stay of prosecution was denied by a full bench of the High Court.
The matter has been adjourned until the third of June.
Outside court, Zuma told supporters that the charges he faces are trumped up. He says he was not there when the arms deal was discussed.
Meanwhile, Zuma has indicated that he will petition the Supreme Court of Appeal to consider his application for Downer’s removal.
