NPA stopped me getting my day in court, says Jacob Zuma
Former president argues prosecuting authority did not try him within a reasonable time after charging him for corruption as tries to get a permanent stay of prosecution
Former president Jacob Zuma says he is not responsible for any of the delays that led to the corruption prosecution against him dragging on for 17 years, and has laid all the blame on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). And it is that claim, which the NPA contends is untrue, that is the most pivotal to Zuma’s final bid to stop his trial from going ahead: with an application for a permanent stay of his prosecution. That’s because the seminal Constitutional Court ruling on whether a permanent stay of prosecution should be granted focuses on the right of any accused person “to a fair trial, which shall include the right – to a public trial before an ordinary court of law within a reasonable time after having been charged”. For Zuma’s application to succeed, he needs to show that it is not possible for him to receive a fair trial because of the “undue delay” in his prosecution proceeding. And, importantly, that this delay is not his fault. In papers filed at the Durban high court ...
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