A Dubai Court of Appeal has ruled that the Gupta brothers cannot be extradited to South Africa due to insufficient legal documentation, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Friday.
The agency said that the UAE Minister of Justice, Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, held a phone call with Ronald Lamola, South African Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, to discuss the ruling on the extradition request concerning Atul and Rajesh Gupta.
“The Dubai Court of Appeal issued its decision that [the Gupta brothers] accused in relation to two cases of money laundering, fraud, and corruption, cannot be extradited.
“The decision to reject the extradition request follows a comprehensive and thorough legal review process that found that the request did not meet the strict standards for legal documentation as outlined in the extradition agreement between the UAE and South Africa that entered into force in April 2021,” WAM said.
According to UAE Ministry of Justice, on 29 November 2022, it received the original extradition file from South African authorities after holding several meetings.
“The extradition request was then referred to the Public Prosecution to investigate the accused concerning the charges leveled against them.
“After a comprehensive investigation, the file was referred to the Court of Appeal, which, after three hearings, issued its decision that the accused could not be handed over to South African authorities.
“At every step, UAE judicial authorities briefed their South African counterparts on proceedings,” the Ministry stated.
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