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08-04-2023
DUBAI: A United Arab Emirates court has dismissed South Africa’s request to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta, Indian 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, Lamola said.
“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.
He added that South Africa would “promptly appeal” the decision.
An inquiry was established in 2018 to examine allegations of corruption during Zuma’s nine years in power from 2009, which was riddled with scandals, overshadowing his presidency.
In July 2021, Interpol issued a red notice, a global alert enabling law enforcement to arrest a person sought for prosecution or to serve a custodial sentence, and arrest them pending extradition, for the Guptas.
Interpol said they were being sought in connection with a 25 million rand ($1.6m) contract paid to a Gupta-linked company, Nulane Investment, to conduct an agricultural feasibility study.
In June last year, the South African government has said law enforcement authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have arrested Rajesh Gupta and Atul Gupta of the Gupta family.
The Ministry of Justice “confirms that it has received information from law enforcement authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that fugitives of justice, namely, Rajesh and Atul Gupta have been arrested”, it said in a statement on Monday. (Int’l News Desk)
