Zuma wants Downer jailed

FORMER president Jacob Zuma yesterday officially opened two cases of prosecutorial misconduct against advocate Billy Downer SC, one of the most senior prosecutors within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Should Zuma be successful in his quest to get Downer hauled over the coals for allegedly leaking classified information about his arms deal corruption trial and medical records, the prosecutor could be slapped with a fine or serve 15 years behind bars.

Yesterday, a smiling Zuma personally went to the Pietermaritzburg police station to lay the charges.

Accompanied by his bodyguards, daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and the spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, Zuma spent almost an hour dealing with the processes of laying criminal charges in one of the rooms within the police station in the central business district of Pietermaritzburg.

Smiling and waving to the throngs of workers and people at the police station at the time, Zuma spoke briefly to the media while a handful of his supporters stood on the sidelines waving placards calling for Downer’s arrest and prosecution.

He said since he was “still a prisoner” he would not say much and left it to Manyi and a member of his legal team to read out the charge sheet.

“We were here to open a case against a prosecutor (Downer) … there is nothing more I can say, I am leaving … I am a prisoner,” Zuma said briefly before leaving the police station.

According to the six-page charge sheet, Zuma accuses Downer of breaching section 41(6) of the NPA Act which prohibits the disclosing of information without the permission of the National Director.

He alleges that the leaking of his medical records in August this year was not new as in 2008, information related to his corruption trial was also leaked to a journalist and foreign spies.

“The purpose of bringing the information contained in this affidavit to the attention of the police is to initiate a process which must necessarily lead to the prosecution of the suspects, failing which, a certificate to the contrary must be duly issued by the National Director of Public Prosecutions, who is incidentally the person ultimately responsible for the deployment of the suspects.

Defending Downer, the NPA said it noted with concern that Zuma had laid the charges. The prosecuting body said it still had confidence in Downer and his record as a prosecutor spoke for him.

“The NPA is committed to upholding due process and the rule of law and will assess the merits of the charges in an objective manner. We also note that these charges are laid while the matter is subject to judicial determination by the high court.”