His decision comes on the back of an announcement from Zuma’s legal team late last year that the former president plans on bringing another application for State Advocate Billy Downer’s removal.

Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen is stepping aside from former president Jacob Zuma’s arms deal corruption case.

Koen on Monday morning announced that he was recusing himself.

His decision comes on the back of an announcement from Zuma’s legal team late last year that the former president plans on bringing another application for State Advocate Billy Downer’s removal.

The new application followed Zuma instituting a private prosecution against Downer.

The allegations around the leaking of medical information, which is at the heart of the private prosecution, were also raised in Zuma’s failed special plea challenging Downer’s title to prosecute.

And Koen had already taken a position on that.

Koen said there was now a reasonable apprehension of bias on his part.

By: Bernadette Wicks

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