Former president Jacob Zuma has filed an application for leave to appeal the recent judgment of the High Court in Pietermaritzburg which dismissed his stay of prosecution application.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, says Zuma’s lawyers filed the papers on Friday afternoon.
Zuma and French arms company Thales are facing charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering.
The charges emanate from a multi-billion-rand arms deal in the 1990s.
Zuma is accused of soliciting a bribe from Thales in exchange for his political influence.
Zuma has met Friday’s deadline and filed court papers just before the court closed for business. In his application Zuma is asking the court to allow him to appeal the judgment with the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The matter will be argued in court on the 22nd of this month. The former President maintains the decision to charge him was nothing but a political conspiracy against him by his opponents. However, a full bench of judges who heard the original application felt that the seriousness of the charges outweigh any prejudice.
Zuma claimed he would suffer if the trial went ahead.
