South Africa's ex-president Jacob Zuma sues state prosecutor leading corruption charges against him
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma, a former president of South Africa and one of those accused of corruption in a multi-million dollar arms deal that stretches back to 1999, has sued a journalist and the state prosecutor who is leading the case against him.
On Tuesday, Zuma launched a private prosecution against senior state prosecutor Billy Downer for leaking a medical report to a News24 journalist who then went on to publish it. The journalist Karyn Maughan has also been roped inthe case.
As per a News24 report, the "charges relate to News24's publication of details of Zuma's medical condition, which were attached to court papers lodged at the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg, last year."
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Zuma contends that senior advocate Downer leaked the report to Maughan and this is in violation of the National Prosecuting Act. His lawyers had earlier contented that Downer is biased and had sought to have him removed from Zuma's case.
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As per an Anadolu Agency report, the former leader's attorneys are suing the journalist who broke the news, arguing that it is illegal to reveal Zuma's private medical information without first obtaining written consent from the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).
The medical documents as per News24 were "part of court documents that had already been filed, making it public record."
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News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson says that the development was "clearly an attempt by Mr Zuma to bully Maughan and News24 when he knows we did nothing wrong".
Anton Harber, the executive director of Campaign for Free Expression was quoted by the publication as saying that Zuma has a history of taking legal action "against media critics in an attempt to stifle scrutiny and criticism".
The medical report was published following the former president's release on medical parole last year after being detained and imprisoned for contempt of court.
Several accusations of corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, and racketeering have been brought against Zuma, 80, and the French arms company Thales in relation to the $2.5 billion weapons contract from the late 1990s. Both the accused have denied any wrongdoing.
(With inputs from agencies)
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