Zuma lawyers, State battle it out over documents

A report on the Mail & Guardian Online site says the documents, including the 2000 diary of Alain Thetard – the former CE of Thales International\'s South African subsidiary, Thint – are being sought by the State. They pertain to meetings between Zuma, convicted businessman Schabir Shaik and the former CE of the French arms manufacturer, Thales International. The State has asked Judge Phillip Levensohn to sign a letter asking the Mauritian authorities to release these documents relating to Zuma\'s corruption trial. Much of the argument yesterday centred on two sections of the International Cooperation in Criminal Matters Act. In their papers Thint and Zuma claimed that the two sections did not apply because the State had never withdrawn its case. Prosecutor Billy Downer argued that because the corruption case against Zuma and Thint had been thrown out of court by Judge Herbert Msimang last September, all actions relevant to that trial had ended. Downer said that if Zuma and Thint objected to the State having copies of the documents – some of which were accepted as evidence in the 2005 corruption trial of Schabir Shaik – ‘then the state should have the originals’. He said the State was not seeking new search-and-seizure raids, but only the original documents. Downer pointed out that the legality of the actual raids had never been contested, and the injunction obtained by Thales International sought to ensure that sensitive company information did not become public. Full report on Mail & Guardian Online site

Downer stressed that the State had followed the correct diplomatic channels in its bid to secure the 13 sets of documents. Levensohn repeatedly questioned Downer about the NPA\'s proceedings in dealing through diplomatic channels to secure the documents. ‘I have difficulty in seeing that this whole process is unlawful,’ he said. The legal teams for both Thint and Zuma had argued that search and seizure raids carried out in Mauritius were unlawful, notes SABC News. They claimed in their papers filed that, in 2001, a Mauritius Supreme Court order did not authorise copies of the seized documents to be given to the SA authorities and that it was improper for a SA court to adjudicate on the release of these documents. However, Downer argued that since the documents were not the property of Thint, but rather the property of Thales International, the Thint companies had a ‘limited interests’ in the documents, which are currently in the possession of Mauritian authorities. Full SABC News report

Zuma’s advocate, Kemp J Kemp, came under fire from Levensohn for submitting an unexpected and lengthy written argument. ‘What is the point of that? It is discourteous. I am not impressed,’ Levensohn stated when Kemp, submitted a new 69-page heads-of-argument, says The Citizen. Kemp attempted to argue that precedents had been set in KwaZulu-Natal that judges first get a short heads-of argument and then a long version. ‘You inconvenience me. I have heard judges complain about this.’ Full report in The Citizen