By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Judge Piet Koen, the presiding judge in the arms deal corruption case against former president Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer, Thales – has recused himself from the trial.
Judge Koen said he had done so because he had previously expressed views about the merits of Zuma’s then-pending private prosecution of lead advocate Billy Downer, SC, for contravening the NPA Act for allegedly “leaking” Zuma’s private medical information to journalist Karyn Maughan.
In his ruling in 2022 dismissing Zuma’s special plea aimed at Downer’s removal, Koen made some “strong comments” about the disclosure of Zuma’s medical report and essentially said there was no merit to Zuma’s complaint that it was a breach of the act.
Zuma submitted that Downer lacked title to prosecute him on fraud and corruption charges because he was not sufficiently impartial. Koen dismissed the plea and denied Zuma leave to appeal.
The former president directly petitioned the appellate and constitutional courts and has now, unsuccessfully, exhausted all avenues of appeal.
In a summary of his reasons for stepping out of the trial on Monday, he said the private prosecution had now been initiated and Zuma was arguing that Downer, who is being prosecuted by him, could not continue to prosecute in the arms deal trial.
Koen said whether Downer should be removed or not needed to be assessed properly and dispassionately, and must be perceived to be objectively evaluated.
“I have favoured a particular interpretation of these factual issues. A consequence might be that Downer should continue — if that was to be my conclusion, then Zuma would be reasonably justified to feel aggrieved that a decision was made in favour of Downer, strongly influenced by my previous findings, in order to be consistent.”
It was not an easy decision that I have to recuse myself from the trial, but it is what the sound administration of justice, the constitution and my conscience dictate. The integrity of the judicial process must not be tainted.”
Zuma and Thales are on trial over the controversial multibillion-rand arms deal concluded in the late 1990s. The former president and the French arms manufacturer are facing multiple counts including fraud‚ corruption, money laundering and racketeering.
The state had called for Judge Koen to continue to preside over the trial, while Zuma’s legal team wanted the judge to recuse himself arguing that he was conflicted due to his comments.
Zuma and a representative of Thales were not expected in court on Monday.
The trial has been adjourned to 17 April 2023.