JOHANNESBURG (AP) – South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma accepted more than 700 bribes, including cash payments from French arms company Thales, in the decade before taking office, the first day of Zuma's corruption trial said Wednesday. The prosecutor's office claimed that.
Zuma, who served as president of Africa's most developed economy from 2009 until his ouster amid other corruption scandals in 2018, is charged with multiple counts of corruption, extortion, fraud, tax evasion and money laundering. It was done. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claimed the trial was politically motivated.
Zuma, 79, who wore a blue suit, red tie and face mask in court, also filed papers calling for the lead prosecutor to be removed from the case, accusing him of bias. The judge said he would consider Mr Zuma's application.
If Zuma is convicted, he could face 25 years in prison.
After the trial was adjourned until July 19, Mr Zuma addressed hundreds of supporters outside court.
“I have never received anything from anyone. I have not done anything wrong,” he said.
The corruption charges relate to Zuma's rise as a politician before he became head of state, including his time as South Africa's vice president from 1999 to 2005.
Prosecutors allege that he accepted bribes from a variety of sources in addition to Thales between 1995 and 2005. During that time, he rose from being a local politician to deputy leader of the ruling African National Congress and then vice president of the country.
Thales has also been charged in court and has pleaded not guilty to extortion and money laundering. Zuma and Thales are facing 18 charges in total. The trial was adjourned until July 19th.
Prosecutors said Mr Zuma and Mr Thales were involved in a de facto organized crime enterprise between 1995 and 2001. Mr Zuma agreed to accept payments of about $40,000 a year from Mr Thales in return for providing “political protection” and ensuring that no investigation took place, prosecutors claimed. Thales has signed a major arms deal with the South African government. The deal was signed in 1999, but its future was thrown into doubt by corruption allegations.
Zuma was first formally implicated by prosecutors over the deal in 2005, and was subsequently removed as vice president. Charges were dropped and re-indicted several times over the next 13 years amid allegations of political interference. Meanwhile, Zuma revived his political career and became South Africa's president just four years after being removed as vice-president.
The charges were reopened by the National Prosecuting Authority in 2018, and Mr Zuma finally made his plea in a court in eastern Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday, 16 years after he was first implicated in the case.
In the indictment, prosecutors allege that between October 1995 and June 2005, payments were made directly into Mr Zuma's bank account or to others to perform services on Mr Zuma's behalf. It provided a list of 791 payments. The money came from a company linked to Mr Zuma's former financial adviser, for whom Mr Zuma was found guilty. The adviser is accused of soliciting and acting as an intermediary for bribes from Thales to Zuma, as well as bribing Zuma for his own business interests.
Some payments were as little as $7, while others were as high as $28,000. Prosecutors said they were listed in bank records as “Zuma family expenses,” “Zuma children's education,” and “Zuma family expenses.” The total amount reached approximately $300,000. It is unclear whether these payments included alleged bribes from Thales.
Zuma, who faces an ongoing investigation into other allegations of corruption during his time as president, has often characterized the corruption charges against him as politically motivated. He even claimed in a document calling for the removal of lead prosecutor Billy Downer that South African prosecutors had colluded with foreign intelligence services over the years to entrap him.
Zuma's alleged involvement in corruption during his time as president is not expected to be included in the latest trial, although a separate judicial inquiry has already found him suspected of overseeing large-scale corruption during his time as president. Mr Zuma has refused to testify in the inquiry despite his orders, and his judge asked the court to sentence him to two years in prison for contempt of court.
___
Imlay reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
