By: Natasha Archary
Jacob Zuma’s arms deal corruption trial has been postponed until 17 October.
The latest postponement comes as the former President awaits the court’s appeal ruling on his latest bid to remove prosecutor Billy Downer from the case.
Zuma’s trial was set to commence on Monday, 01 August at the Pietermaritzburg High Court, but the former President was not in attendance.
Instead, Judge Piet Koen ordered the postponement, citing Zuma’s special plea appeal bid as the reason for yet another delay.
Should the apex court dismiss Zuma’s appeal bid, Zuma’s corruption trial will proceed on 7 November.
The case has been riddled with delays which included postponements due to Zuma’s ill-health and medical parole.
Last year, Zuma had been convicted to 15-months in jail for contempt of court in his corruption case.
In March, Zuma’s bid for appeal against advocate Billy Downer dismissed and the trial was set to resume on 11 April.
Zuma’s bid for appeal was centered around removing Downer from his case. He cited that the advocate lacked the right to prosecute him because he had an undeniable bias against him.
This after the case was dragged out for two years, following many setbacks as well as Zuma’s ill health.
Zuma is implicated on charges of corruption, racketeering, and money laundering stemming from the 1999 Arms deal.
The French arms deal debacle came about when the former President was accused of receiving a bribe of R500K a year from French arms dealer Thales.
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