By RFIPosted on 15-10-2019Modified on 15-10-2019 at 02:12
In South Africa, this is the beginning, Tuesday, October 15, of a trial constantly postponed, that of the former president Jacob Zuma and Thales, the French giant of the armament. Jacob Zuma will have to be at the helm to answer the eighteen charges against him.
Last week, South African justice finally ordered that Zuma be tried for a corruption case that dates back to 1999. For nearly fifteen years, Zuma and his lawyers have always managed to slow down the work of justice, but this time it seems inevitable
Jacob Zuma and Thales will appear Tuesday morning at the court in Pietermaritzburg having probably exhausted all their possible legal remedies to postpone again the trial said the "Arms Deal".
Since 2005, the South African prosecutor's office has often contradicted itself and has several times withdrawn and then reinstated its case against the one who was successively vice-president, then president of South Africa. In all, eighteen charges against Jacob Zuma, mainly fraud, racketeering and embezzlement at the signing of the contract with Thales, in 1999.
Zuma has always denied the charges, just like Thalès, except that the former head of state has dragged this case on the political field and has often complained of being a victim of a witch hunt on the part of its opponents.
He has repeatedly called for the permanent suspension of proceedings against him for this reason. It was still the case last week. The request was rejected on Friday. The KwaZulu-Natal High Court judge cited " a very serious case against him ".
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