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Ministry Justice and Correctional Services

Republic of South Africa

 
Media Statement
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Date: 7 April 2023
 
MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES PROVIDES AN
UPDATE EXTRADITION REQUEST OF THE GUPTA FUGITIVES

Members of the media and the nation at large would recall that on 30th of March
2023 we issued media statement to update the nation on our Extradition request to
United Arab Emirates in relation to fugitives Mr Atul Gupta and Mr Rajesh Gupta.

In that statement we provided a brief update on the status of our request.

We also raised a concern that South Africa has not been informed on whether there
was Court appearance which is a standard practice in extradition hearings.

To this end we requested a meeting at both a Ministerial level and Central authority
level.

Detailed Timeline of Activities undertaken by South Africa related to this

Request

February 2022 Interpol Con rms Red Notices have been issued for the Gupta
fugitives

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June 2022, the United Arab Emirates inform South Africa and Interpol that Mr Atul
Kumar Gupta and Mr Rajesh Kumar Gupta have been arrested by the police in
Dubai, the Department travelled to the UAE.

July 2022, South Africa delivers the formal extradition request to the authorities in
the UAE.

September 2022, the Director-General of the Department of Justice, and

Constitutional Development, in his capacity as the Central Authority, wrote to His
Excellency Addullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, the Minister of Justice in the
UAE, as a follow up to the request.

October 2022, the Central Authority travelled to the UAE to meet with Judge Al
Balushi, and other representatives from the UAE Central Authority,
including the prosecutor who is attending to the extradition request in Dubai. Judge
Al Balushi was requested to keep the South African Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the
Department abreast of developments.

January 2023, at the request of the Central Authority the South African Embassy in
Abu Dhabi directed a Note Verbale to the Ministry of Justice
requesting to be informed regarding the current status of the extradition request. The
Embassy has indicated that they are waiting for a formal response from the Ministry
of Justice in the UAE.
 

February 2023, the Central Authority addressed a further letter to His Excellency
Addullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, referring to his previous correspondence
and again requesting a written update on the extradition proceedings of Mr Rajesh
Gupta and Mr Atul Gupta.

March 2023, the Central Authority requests for a meeting at the level of Central
Authority and at a Ministerial level at the Unite Arab Emirates

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6 April 2023, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services engages the
Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates directly and advised that a Note Verbale
from United Arab Emirates was received on 5 April 2023.

In the evening of the 6th of April 2023, we were provided with a note verbale from
United Arab Emirates. In which we learnt with shock and dismay that the extradition
hearing had been concluded in the Dubai Court on the 13 February 2023 and our
extradition request was unsuccessful.

The court found that on the charge of money laundering the crime in question is
alleged to have been committed in the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, in
terms of the Federal laws of the United Arab Emirates extradition can be denied
because the United Arab Emirates has the jurisdiction to prosecute the crime.

On the charge of fraud and corruption, the court found that the arrest warrant relating
to this charge was cancelled.

The reasons provided for denying our request are inexplicable and y in the face of
the assurances given by Emirati authorities that our requests meet their
requirements.

The NPA will explain the technical aspects further in the brie ng.

Furthermore approach is inconsistent with article 17 of the United Nations

Convention Against Corruption, to which both nations are a signatory. Article 17
places a clear requirement on State parties to obtain clarity on a speci c matter
before refusing an extradition request.

It reads: Before refusing extradition, the requested State Party shall, where
appropriate, consult with the requesting State Party to provide it with ample
opportunity to present its opinions and to provide information relevant to its
allegation.

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This level of non-cooperation is highly unprecedented in the arena of Extradition

requests and mutual legal assistance requests.

The United Emirates conduct does not accord with the ethos of the United Nations
Convention Against Corruption. Amid what the rule of law should achieve we believe
that every state should err on the side of accountability and transparency instead of
opaqueness and obfuscation.

Particularly at a time when the geopolitical space requires elevated levels of  co-
operation between states.

South Africans would be justi ed to believe that they are being denied justice, and
we will act in accordance with this belief.  We will call upon our counterparts in the
United Arab Emirates to honour the letter and spirit of the United Nations Convention
Against Corruption by ensuring that these matters raised are clari ed with a degree
of urgency.

We still intend to engage our counterparts as requested in March to ensure that the
decision  of the court is promptly appealed, in the recent past we are aware that
Denmark has appealed and succeed in obtaining a extradition request.
We also engage with the view of devising a mechanism that enhances the levels co-
operation to preserve the integrity our bilateral relations.

Ends

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