The former president was absent from court, but his counsel argued that health matters be left aside, so as to hear his case for the removal of Billy Downer
Three medical experts appointed by the state concluded that former president Jacob Zuma is fit to stand trial on the arms-deal corruption charges he faces, according to a supplementary affidavit filed by state prosecutor Billy Downer to the Pietermaritzburg high court.
“He said he remained of the view that the first accused is medically fit to stand trial,” Downer wrote.on 5 September, with Downer noting that the NPA had no inkling that this was on the cards. The day’s proceedings began with wrangling between the state and the defence on medical records submitted with a view to obtaining parole, with Mpofu strenuously arguing against the risk of confidential documents “flying around”, in particular given theto the correctional services commissioner Arthur Fraser’s decision to release Zuma.
Mpofu submitted that the history of the case, in which Zuma was first charged in 2005, was replete with instances in which Downer went overboard, and fraught with political meddling by his colleagues and the Mbeki administration as a whole. Furthermore, he said the NPA had made itself guilty of “undue harassment” by sending doctors of its own nomination to examine Zuma. In his affidavit, Downer denies that seeking to arrange with correctional services and the military in August for Sarkin to examine Zuma was unlawful conduct, saying it was in line with Koen’s directive that the state was entitled to a second opinion.
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