Judge+questions+raids,+Zuma+supporters+call+for+picket,+BDay

Business Day, Johannesburg, 08 February 2006
=High court judge questions Scorpions’ raids on Zuma=


 * Nicola Jenvey, KwaZulu-Natal Correspondent**

DURBAN — Durban High Court Judge Noel Hurt caught the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on the back foot yesterday when he questioned why the Scorpions had ordered a raid on former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s homes, rather than ask his attorney for documents relating to Zuma’s financial affairs.

Zuma and attorney Michael Hulley are challenging the legality of the search in August of the former deputy president’s houses in Johannesburg and KwaZulu- Natal as well as Hulley’s offices. Advocate Kemp J Kemp said the move violated Zuma’s right to privacy and silence.

State advocate Marumo Moerane acknowledged during his argument the search warrants had been “much wider than the specific nature of the documents sought”, but that the state needed to net Zuma’s financial records.

The state had not seized Hulley’s office computers or client files as that “would’ve contained privileged information”, he said.

This prompted Hurt to question why the state had chosen a search and seizure over a more amicable request for information.

He also said Zuma’s financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, had “a sanguine approach to life” that allowed him to make payments on the former deputy president’s behalf while fighting a criminal trial linked to those actions.

He reserved until next Wednesday his decision on whether the state’s seizure of the documents was illegal.

The decision has a significant bearing on the evidence that can be offered during Zuma’s corruption trial starting on July 31.

The state had already charged him with corruption after Shaik’s conviction, which Kemp claimed meant the state had sufficient evidence on which to prosecute.

He also dismissed any arguments from state advocate Richard Salmon that the charge sheet had not yet been finalised.

The NPA swooped on Zuma’s Johannesburg and Nkandla residents, the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Tuynhuys in Cape Town and the Marine building in Durban, as well as Hulley’s office and that of Johannesburg attorney Julekha Mahommed, in August.

The state argued that Hulley had not followed due process in applying for some of the documents to be declared privileged and that these were subject to a court ruling before they could be entertained for evidence.

If the documents are disallowed, the state may only use evidence gathered during its investigation of Shaik, which ended in 2002, and nothing gathered that reflected Zuma’s financial position until last year. Meanwhile, the media won a victory yesterday when access limits imposed by the police’s VIP Protection Services were lifted.

The hearing took place in a larger court room, with Hurt promising courts open to the media. “Our policy is strictly one of an open door,” he said.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/national.aspx?ID=BD4A151710**

456 words

Business Day, Johannesburg, 09 February 2006
=Zuma supporters call for picket at rape trial=


 * Ernest Mabuza, Legal Affairs Correspondent**

THE Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust yesterday called for 5000 people to join in a picket outside the Johannesburg High Court when the former deputy president appears next week to face rape charges.

Zuma, who appeared in the Durban High Court earlier this week fighting for the return of documents seized in raids on his homes last year, is the victim of a concerted effort by the media to find Zuma guilty even before he appears in court, the support group says.

“We are of the view that comrade Zuma should be accorded his chance in court rather than being publicly dehumanised by the courts of public opinion and the media,” the trust’s acting secretary in Gauteng, Lucky Zibi, said yesterday.

The mobilisation of support for Zuma is an act of hope ahead of a trial which, if it judges him guilty, will end the political career of the man previously destined for SA’s presidency.

In December Zuma was charged with the alleged rape of a family friend at his house in Johannesburg in November.

He appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court where he was released on bail of R20000.

The trusts Gauteng spokesman Kaizer Mohau said yesterday it was not going to assist Zuma financially during the rape trial but it would offer moral support.

“The deputy president of the African National Congress has not been found guilty of any crime. We will continue to support him until the courts find otherwise,” Mohau said.

While the trust could not say how much it had raised for the corruption trial in June, it said support for Zuma was growing.

The trust also said the death of its Gauteng chairman, George Nene, in a car accident at the weekend, was suspicious.

“We have among us some who have the perception that there might be some unexplained angles in terms of how this accident happened,” Zibi said.

Zuma appeared in the Durban High Court earlier this week in an attempt to get back items seized from his homes by prosecutors in August last year. He will also appear in the same court on corruption charges at the end of July.

Zuma’s legal team argued that the state had violated the former deputy president’s rights to privacy and silence.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/national.aspx?ID=BD4A152193**

397 words

.