Justice Minister Ronald Lamola announced that the UAE Court has dismissed South Africa’s request to extradite Gupta Brothers. The brothers are accused of using their connections with Jacob Zuma, former president of South Africa, to win contracts, influence cabinet appointments, and siphon off state funds.
A United Arab Emirates court has dismissed South Africa’s request to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta, brothers who face charges of political corruption, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said on Friday.
The Indian brothers, arrested in the UAE in June 2022, are accused of using their connections with Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018, to win contracts, influence cabinet appointments and siphon off state funds. Zuma and the Guptas have denied all wrongdoing.
South Africa received diplomatic communication from the UAE on April 6 that a court there had made the decision on February 13, said Lamola who accused the UAE of “non-cooperation”.
“In the evening of the 6th of April 2023, we were provided with a note verbale from the UAE in which we learnt with shock and dismay that an extradition hearing had been concluded in the UAE courts on the 13th of February 2023 and our extradition request was unsuccessful,” Lamola told reporters.
The court had ruled that the UAE had jurisdiction to prosecute the Guptas for money laundering offences allegedly committed in the UAE and South Africa, Lamola said.
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This case illustrates why “international law” is a unicorn. Operators like the Guptas knew as well as Zuma that he wouldn’t be in power forever. In another instance, the Biden administration would probably do better to drop charges against Jho Low (in return for assistance rebuilding MDB) than to continue pressing the PRC to extradite him.