South Africa's justice minister has expressed shock after a court in the United Arab Emirates refused to extradite two brothers from the wealthy Gupta family.
The Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola said he was dismayed to learn this week that a United Arab Emirates court held an extradition hearing for Atul and Rajesh Gupta in February. The court denied Pretoria’s request, but South Africa was only informed now.
The Indian-born siblings were close friends of former President Jacob Zuma and are suspected of using that connection to influence Cabinet appointments and win lucrative government contracts -- a scandal that’s become known here as “state capture.”
Zuma is facing charges in a separate corruption case. He and the Guptas deny all allegations.
The Guptas fled South Africa in 2018. They were arrested in the UAE last year on South Africa’s request.
Lamola says South Africa will appeal the court’s decision, which the UAE court denied on a technicality.
The court said the charge of money laundering related to crimes committed in the UAE as well as South Africa, meaning the UAE has jurisdiction to prosecute it. The court also found the arrest warrant relating to the charge of fraud and corruption had been canceled, which the Justice Ministry called “inexplicable.”
“This level of noncooperation is highly unprecedented in the arena of extradition requests,” the Justice Ministry statement said.
“South Africans would be justified to believe that they are being denied justice,” the statement continued, adding the denial flies “in the face of the assurances given by the Emirati authorities that our requests meet their requirements.”
It’s unclear if the Guptas are still in the UAE, after recent media reports that they were spotted in Switzerland.
