Prosecutor counsel Geoff Budlender has asked the Pietermaritzburg High Court to reject former President Jacob Zuma’s application to remove Advocate Billy Downer as lead prosecutor in the arms deal fraud and corruption trial.
Budlender argued that this application is yet another attempt to delay the trial. He referred to the findings of the Supreme Court of Appeal that Zuma’s private prosecution of Downer is an abuse of court processes and a hopeless case.
The previous judge in the corruption trial had ruled in 2021 that Zuma failed to prove that Downer lacked the standing to prosecute him. Budlender says today’s application is more proof that Zuma is abusing court processes to try and evade prosecution.
“This court knows that Zuma is implementing a Stalingrad defense and it knows this for at least three reasons. In 2007, Mr. Zuma’s counsel the late Mr. Kemp told the High Court that this is what his client is going to do. Also, lord worship the full bench found that Mr. Zuma has adopted the Stalingrad defense…and the 3rd reason Lord Worship is that the full bench found that Zuma has adopted the Stalingrad defense,” says Budlender.
Budlender says the judgement of the SCA should stand.
“Mr. Zuma is attempting to appeal against the full bench decision to set aside the summons. He has applied for leave to appeal and this court rejected it, and he has now applied to the SCA. The decision of the full bench stands until the SCA, or the Constitutional Court say it is wrong. I can just say in the SCA judgment that also now a subject of an attempted appeal to the Constitutional Court that appeal for the same reason except the judement stands.”
Video: Former President Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial – 26 October 2023
