A South African court ruled on Thursday that the long-delayed corruption case involving former President Jacob Zuma and a mega arms deal involving French defense company Thales can proceed, rejecting attempts to postpone the hearing. news.az report, citing AFP.
The case relates to a $2 billion arms purchase deal in the 1990s that included fighter jets, patrol boats and other military equipment purchased from five European defense firms.
zuma He is accused of taking bribes from Thales in exchange for protecting the company from investigation during the investigation of the deal while holding the post of Deputy President.
The proceedings have faced years of delay due to judicial and prosecutorial disapproval, as well as numerous procedural objections in a strategy widely known as “Stop Stalingrad” – a term describing repeated legal appeals aimed at stalling and delaying court action.
Delivering the verdict in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, Judge Nkosinathi Chile said the “interests of justice” required that the case continue.
He said, “Without the intervention of this court, grave injustice is likely to be caused or the administration of justice will be brought into disrepute.”
The judge said that allowing the trial to proceed would not cause any “cognizable harm or grave injustice”.
Zuma, 84, did not attend the hearing and a trial date has not yet been announced.
Thales, formerly known as Thomson-CSF, and Zuma face more than a dozen charges, including fraud, corruption and embezzlement. Both deny the allegations.
Zuma, often known as the “Teflon President”, served as leader of South Africa from 2009 to 2018, when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) forced him to step down amid growing corruption scandals surrounding his administration.
He has also been separately accused of promoting widespread plunder of state resources during his presidency.
In 2021, Zuma received a 15-month prison sentence after refusing to testify before a commission investigating corruption and cronyism related to his time in office.
He was later released on medical parole after serving two months of his sentence.
His imprisonment sparked widespread unrest, including protests, riots and looting, resulting in more than 350 deaths, South Africa's deadliest violence since the country's first democratic elections in 1994.