A South African court has rejected the Mozambican government’s request to appeal against a decision to extradite former Finance Minister Manuel Chang to the US.
Last November, a Johannesburg court ordered Mr Chang’s extradition to the US, where he is accused of corruption, fraud and money laundering.
But the Mozambique government petitioned the South Africa’s constitutional court for authorisation to appeal against the sentence.
On Tuesday, the court dismissed the request.
The government in Mozambique had wanted him to be extradited to Maputo, where 19 suspects are on trial on similar charges.
The crimes against Mr Chang relate to loans taken by Mozambique during his tenure as finance minister.
Mr Chang signed off more than $2.7b in loans to set up a sophisticated tuna industry – to buy trawlers and military patrol boats, but much of it was allegedly diverted to corrupt officials.
He denies accepting $7m in bribes. He was arrested in December 2018 at the request of the US, where investors were affected by the scandal.
The former finance minister has been in a South African prison since his arrest following an indictment in a New York district court.
He was arrested while he was on transit to the United Arab Emirates, according to court documents.
Source: BBC
