Trial within a trial: Ace Magashule's former PA back in court to challenge her extradition
This is day two of a trial within a trial meant to determine if the court has juridiction to try Cholota alongside her former boss and more than a dozen other accused.
Fraud and corruption-accused Moroadi Cholota appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on 12 August 2024. Picture: Xanderleigh Dookey Makhaza/EWN
BLOEMFONTEIN - Former Free State premier Ace Magashule's PA Moroadi Cholota is back at the Bloemfontein High Court to challenge her extradition from the US to face charges in the matter.
This is day two of a trial within a trial meant to determine if the court has jurisdiction to try Cholota alongside her former boss and more than a dozen other accused.
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Cholota’s lawyers are currently cross-examining the lead investigator in the matter.
Accused 17 Moroadi Cholota was extradited from the us in August last year, where she was studying.
But she said her high-profile extradition was unlawful.
In the cross-examination of the first witness, lead investigator Captain Benjamin Calitz so far, Cholota’s lawyer, advocate Loyiso Makapela, said there was a deliberate omission of information sent to the US.
She said not only were key documents withheld from US officials, but that the extradition was eventually granted for charges unrelated to those she faces now in court.
The state in the matter has hit back at what is said is a misguided line of questioning by Makapela, adding the lead investigator shouldn’t have to account for what documents were sent to the us and that that’s a question only for the prosecutors and the justice department.
The matter continues.