Hilary Squires

Hilary Gwyn Squires is a retired South African judge and barrister, who was brought in to preside over the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in Durban, South Africa, so as not to tie up legal proceedings elsewhere while the trial proceeded.

Squires was born in South Africa in 1933 and was educated at Rhodes Preparatory School and the University of Cape Town. He left South Africa in 1956 for Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He first practiced in Bulawayo and then in Salisbury. He was elected to parliament as an MP for Salisbury Central on December 3, 1971 in a byelection, and became well known for his tough anti-British stance. He later became the justice minister under Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith. After the Lancaster House Agreement and the fall of the white minority government, Squires returned to South Africa to practice law and was appointed to the bench in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Squires was accused by supporters of Schabir Shaik and then-Deputy President Jacob Zuma of being racist, because of his Rhodesian background, and the fact that he was a white judge who served under the apartheid regime. However, the South African Human Rights Commission defended Squires.

External links

* [http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Shaik_trial/0,,2-7-1708_1717121,00.html "Don't label judge racist"] - South African Press Association article
* [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20050607085321304C453519 "Attacks on judge racist, says HRC"] - Article from Independent Online