Former South African President Jacob Zuma's effort to affect his ongoing corruption trial by removing lead prosecutor Billy Downer failed Friday.
The nation's Supreme Court of Appeal tossed out Zuma's "application," the local term for "motion," was dismissed by SCA Justice Mandisa Maya, who presides over that judicial body.
Zuma, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including corruption, money laundering and racketeering in the long-running case over the $2 billion arms deal in the 1990s, continues to claim that Downer is biased against him, and because of that, any trial he conducts is unfair.
The spokesman of the Jacob Zuma Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zuma's corruption trial has been repeatedly delayed by the filing of motions and appeals.
The former president has one more chance to gain a turnover: observers expect his legal team to petition next South Africa's highest judicial body, its Constitutional Court
