Zuma raids get more flak
2005-08-21 17:30
Johannesburg - Six youth organisations on Sunday condemned last week's Scorpions' raid on the houses and associates of former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
In a combined statement, the ANC Youth League, the Young Communist League, the Friends of the Jacob Zuma Trust, the Congress of SA Students, the SA Students' Congress and the Student Union for Christian Action said they were "disgusted" by the way in which the raid was conducted.
"As progressive youth organisations, we fully support government's effort to purge out corruption...," the statement read.
"However, we are opposed to any practice that violates the rights of the individuals in the name of pursuing justice."
The organisations objected to the fact that the Scorpions were armed when conducting the raid on Zuma's house.
"While we respect that our security forces must be armed when confronting dangerous criminals, we view it with utter contempt the manner in which the Scorpions handled the raid in Comrade Zuma's residences, highly armed as though indeed the leader of our people were a fugitive."
They said although they supported Zuma's appearance in court, it seemed there was an agenda behind the investigation against him.
"The irony wherein a person is first charged then investigated seems to corroborate the idea that there is an agenda to find the ANC deputy president guilty against all odds, where the ends justify the means."
The organisations said they doubted if Zuma would have a fair trial and congratulated his body guards for "attempting to redeem the dignity of our deputy president".
- SAPA