South Africa was not granted access to the Guptas and was not informed that the brothers were kept in prison.
Cape Town - The DA said on Monday that it would request from the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, a full copy of the application made to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) requesting the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta.
This comes after the party’s MPs Glynnis Breytenbach and Werner Horn received several sets of responses to their parliamentary questions that were sent to Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola between February and March.
The responses show that South Africa was not granted access to the Guptas and that they were informed that the brothers were kept in prison.
Breytenbach said the UAE’s justice ministry had asserted that the submitted extradition request concerning the charge of fraud against the Guptas was attached with a cancelled arrest warrant order, a move that failed to meet the extradition request conditions.
“It, therefore, appears that the Guptas were released on a technicality that could have been avoided,” she said.
Breytenbach also said Lamola had confirmed that the dismissal of the extradition application was based on “technicalities” that would have been addressed had the state been provided with the opportunity.
“The DA will be requesting the full disclosure of all submitted documents so as to determine the veracity of these allegations.
“We will also be seeking to understand why communication between the UAE authorities broke down to the point that the outcome of the extradition application was only communicated via a diplomatic note almost two months after the hearing took place on 13 February 2023,” she said.
The former prosecutor also said the failure of the South African government to hold the chief perpetrators of State Capture accountable was becoming increasingly glaring.
“Those who have failed to diligently perform their duties in bringing the Gupta’s to justice must be held to account,” Breytenbach said.
Quizzed by Horn about the status of the extradition application in February, Lamola said the UAE Ministry of the Interior’s Directorate General for the Federal Criminal Police informed the National Criminal Bureau, Interpol Pretoria, that the Gupta brothers were arrested in the UAE on June 6, 2022.
The UAE authorities also informed Lamola the same day and requested that his department forward the official extradition request as soon as possible.
Lamola also said the formal extradition request was delivered by South Africa on July 25, 2022.
“The director-general of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, in his capacity as the Central Authority, wrote to His Excellency Addullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, the Minister of Justice in the UAE, in September 2022 as a follow-up to the request.
“During October 2022, the Central Authority travelled to the UAE to meet with Judge Al Balushi and other representatives from the UAE Central Authority, including the prosecutor who is attending to the extradition request in Dubai.
“Judge Al Balushi was requested to keep the South African Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Department abreast of developments,” he said.
Lamola detailed the department’s efforts asking to be informed regarding the status of the extradition request.
He told Breytenbach that the department was informed during an official visit to the UAE that the Gupta brothers remained incarcerated in prison, but the exact details were not disclosed.
The exact date of the Gupta brothers’ arrest was unknown to the department.
“The department was not granted access to the Gupta brothers and was not furnished with mug shots of them.”
Asked about the date of the extradition hearing of the Gupta brothers and whether the brothers had attended, Lamola said the department was informed by the UAE Central Authority that the extradition hearings took place in a closed court and that only the accused, their legal representatives and the prosecution team were allowed in court.
He also stated that his department liaised with the UAE via diplomatic channels between the two countries.
“The South African Embassy in Abu Dhabi assists the department in this regard,” Lamola said.
Cape Times