Pietermaritzburg, South Africa - The judge hearing an
application by South Africa's ruling African National Congress leader
Jacob Zuma to have corruption charges against him thrown out reserved
judgement Tuesday in the case.
Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris Nicholson said that given
the complexity of the case he would reserve judgement in the
application until September 12.
The judge ruled that the provisional date for the main case
against Zuma should remain December 8. But the state and Zuma will
get an opportunity to haggle over that date at a hearing set aside
specifically to deal with the matter on August 15.
In December last year Zuma, who is the ANC's candidate for
president in 2009 elections, was charged with corruption,
racketeering, fraud and money laundering in a 1990 state arms deal.
Zuma, 66, had brought an application before the court to have the
charges against him thrown out on the basis that the state did not
allow him to make representations about the charges before indicting
him.
Counsel for the state, Wim Trengrove, argued Tuesday that Zuma's
claims that the state had acted illegally were 'scurrilous and
irrelevant to the causes of action.'
Zuma appeared relaxed on the second and last day of the
proceedings, saluting dozens of supporters from the ANC and the
allied trade union movement and Communist Party allies as he entered
the courtroom.
Outside, hundreds of Zuma supporters that have been maintaining a
vigil outside the court since Sunday night eagerly awaited a speech
from him on the case.
Zuma was first charged with corruption over the multibillion-
dollar arms deal in 2005 but the case was thrown out of the same
Pietermaritzburg court in 2006 over prosecution delays in submitting
evidence.
Armed with fresh evidence the state brought new charges against
him in December 2007, a few days after he romped to victory over
Mbeki in an ANC leadership race.
Zuma's supporters claim the state's tenacious pursuit of the case,
and the timing of the latest charges, are part of a political plot to
bar him from becoming president - a charge state prosecutors deny.
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