Wednesday, 29 April 2020 18:58
Jacob Zuma withdrawn his Constitutional Court application against his corruption trial.
Image Courtesy of Esa Alexander.
Former president Jacob Zuma has withdrawn his application for leave to appeal the dismissal of his stay of prosecution application, making way for him to prepare for the court proceedings.
The Jacob G Zuma Foundation has confirmed that the Constitutional Court has accepted the withdrawal of his bid to appeal the dismissal of his application for a stay of prosecution.
It said Zuma welcomes the decision, which “paves the way for him to prepare for the trial and demonstrate that he has never benefited from any arms deal corruption or tried to evade the trial ... He hopes that his innocence will, indeed, be demonstrated for all to see.”
Among other charges, Zuma is accused of accepting a R500,000 a year bribe from French arms company Thales, in exchange for his protection from any potential arms deal investigation.
The foundation statement quotes him as saying: “I hope that our citizens will finally get some certainty and closure as to the real beneficiaries of the arms deal if any corruption in that regard did occur.”
Zuma faces 16 charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering, relating to the arms deal.
BREAKING:
— Karyn Maughan (@karynmaughan) April 29, 2020
Fmr Pres Jacob Zuma has withdrawn his ConCourt bid to appeal dismissal of his stay of prosecution application.
Zuma Foundation: “This indeed paves the way for him to prepare for the trial and demonstrate that he has never benefited from any Arms Deal corruption..” pic.twitter.com/Eu8b0lqghe