Frank Buyanga hires Gaddafi lawyer

HARARE – Exiled businessman Frank Buyanga has hired a top Israeli lawyer Nick Kaufman to fight an Interpol arrest warrant issued against him at the behest of the Zimbabwean government. 

The International Criminal Court defence counsel, who has also represented the likes of Saadi Gaddafi in his extradition case from Niger, said he was confident of a positive outcome for his client as the Paris-based organisation’s red notice was issued over a largely politicised civil matter.

“A number of High Court and at least one Supreme Court judge have thrown out the claims, and charges against Buyanga and his Hamilton Group of Companies, so there is no basis for this action,” Kaufman told the Daily News by telephone from Netherlands this week.

“In that regard, it is hard to disassociate oneself from the impression that the Zimbabwean arrest warrant (and related Interpol notice) was issued against him after he had instituted legal proceedings (against) a government minister,” he said, adding there has been “serious criticism on the application of these notices, as civil disputes cannot be settled by them”.

According to Wikipedia, an Interpol red notice or international flag is issued by the global crime fighting agency for members to share information on wanted persons and when these individuals’ names come to the attention of other jurisdictions, the requesting authority is instantly notified. And when this happens, a request for provisional arrest or extradition request is made.

While there are seven categories of these notices – from red to purple – Interpol only publishes notices “if they satisfy all conditions for processing” and are not in violation of such statues as Article 3 of its Constitution, which prohibits action or intervention based on political, military, religious or racial persecution.

Kaufman said Buyanga was being unjustly hounded, especially after he had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Zimbabwean police and courts in December 2010 in the financing deals he had done with several people years back.

Coincidentally, the flamboyant businessman’s legal troubles resurfaced after he had sued Transport and Communications minister Nicholas Goche over a $70 000 debt.

With Buyanga relocating to South Africa in 2010 and after his Hamilton group had been cleared of any criminal conduct — as encapsulated in chief inspector Chikandiwa’s three-year-old affidavit — he has inexplicably found himself on the Interpol wanted list.

Even though the young and self-styled property investor, and financier had been cleared of any charges, he is still fighting sporadic court battles with several people, who claim to have lost their properties on the sly.

But this week, Kaufman — who has reportedly lodged a 70-page dossier to annul the international arrest warrant — was adamant that there was never an intention to deprive people of their assets.

“I challenge anyone to come forward with a paper or documentation, which talks about interest rates or anything usurious. Nothing can be further from the truth that Buyanga and his businesses were involved in loan-sharking activities,” he said.

Recently, the 33-year-old businessman scored two legal victories when the Supreme Court dismissed an application by Tonderai Tarima for the reversal of the sale of a Borrowdale property and a deeds registry employee — regarded as central to his prosecution.

The Johannesburg-based businessman counts, among his friends, Equatorial Guinea president Theodore Obiang Nguema and ex-Malawian leader Bakili Muluzi. Daily News