South Africa asks UAE for explanations on extradition case

Pretoria, Sep 29 (Prensa Latina) South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola on Friday demanded answers from authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the extradition request for the Gupta brothers, who were accused here of several corruption offenses.

September 29, 2023
10:14

Our Ambassador to the UAE has been working to get answers regarding the issues we want them to clarify in the case, so that we can resubmit the request, because resubmitting it without clarity would be another exercise in futility, the Minister said.

We strongly believe that UAE legal authorities should answer those questions so that our officials can be ready any time after receiving the answers, he added.

Lamola’s statements came after the UAE asked South Africa to resubmit the extradition request.

Prosecuting authorities from the two countries met in June to discuss the extradition of Rajesh and Atul Gupta.

The two defendants were released in the United Arab Emirates in early 2023 after a failed extradition attempt to bring them back to South Africa.

The Gupta brothers face corruption charges for their alleged role in South Africa’s State Capture legal process (corruption involving state officials).

jg/arm/jha/mv