South Africa: Jacob Zuma gets a reprieve and pushes back his imprisonment
Former South African President Jacob Zuma surrounded by his supporters next to his home in Nkandla, July 4, 2021. REUTERS - ROGAN WARD
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Jacob Zuma will not sleep in prison this Sunday, July 4.
The former South African president, sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of justice, has not taken prisoner as required by the Constitutional Court.
She agreed to listen to his request for annulment of the sentence on July 12.
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From our correspondent in Johannesburg,
Romain Chanson
This Sunday afternoon, Zuma addressed several hundred supporters gathered in front of his Nkandla residence in KwaZulu-Natal since Tuesday to thank them for their support, and this Sunday evening he was speaking to the press.
The former president denounced laws that would apply only to him.
"
There can be no Zuma law"
in South Africa, said the former president.
His line of defense emphasizes the fact that he was sentenced without trial.
"
I am afraid that South Africa is falling back into an apartheid regime
," Jacob Zuma dares.
It should be remembered that he repeatedly refused to come and defend himself before the Constitutional Court.
It was these refusals, and others before them, that motivated his conviction.
"I
am not afraid to go to jail for my ideas,
" said Jacob Zuma, recalling his 10 years in prison at Robben Island penitentiary alongside Nelson Mandela in the 1960s.
Jacob Zuma has an appointment on
Tuesday before a provincial court
to find out if the order to arrest him may be suspended.
If this jurisdiction does not give him satisfaction, he can always be arrested on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Will it be so when the Constitutional Court agreed to examine his appeal on July 12?
It's unlikely, but as a political journalist writes.
“
Tonight we are in uncharted territory
.
"
►Also read: South Africa: Zuma obtains the review of his conviction, his support gathered
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