South African ruling party chief Jacob Zuma's claim that he had the right to be heard before he was charged with corruption took center stage in Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday.
As technical legal arguments proceeded, about 4,000 Zuma supporters chanted outside the court building amid tight police security, the South African Press Association reported.
Zuma is seeking to have the decision to prosecute him declared unlawful.
The country's highest court ruled Thursday that documents seized from Zuma's home and offices can form part of his high court trial on 16 counts including fraud and money-laundering.
Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC), arrives at Pietermaritzburg high court August 4, 2008 in an attempt to win the dismissal of a corruption case that could wreck his chances of becoming the nation's president next year. Thousands of supporters rallied in Pietermaritzburg when Zuma appeared at a hearing in the city's high court, hoping to stop state prosecutors putting him on trial later this year. The Constitutional Court upheld a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal declaring the warrants for the search and seizures lawful.
Zuma toppled the country's President Thabo Mbeki as the African National Congress' leader in December and is highly viewed as a successor to Mbeki in next year's polls.
Source:Xinhua
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