South Africa: former president Zuma now on parole
Jacob Zuma, July 4, 2021 in Nkandla.
AFP - EMMANUEL CROSET
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Jacob Zuma on parole, for non-detailed medical reasons.
The former South African president has been hospitalized for a month.
The prison services announced it this Sunday, September 5, 2021 in a press release.
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With our correspondent in Johannesburg,
Claire Bargelès
At 79, Jacob Zuma has been serving a fifteen-month prison sentence for contempt of justice since early July, following his refusal to appear before a commission investigating corruption under his chairmanship.
But he ultimately spent only one month in Estcourt prison, in the east of the country, before being hospitalized in early August.
He is now on parole.
According to the prison services, this decision was taken following receipt of a medical report.
The authorities indicate that in addition to cases of terminal illness, or cases of physical disability, parole may be granted for people "
suffering from an illness which severely limits their daily activities, or their ability to take care of themselves. care for them
”.
The press release further specifies that the risk of recidivism must be low, and that the decision is irrevocable, unless the detainee does not comply with the conditions of his release.
Jacob Zuma is also being sued in the Thalès affair, another corruption case dating from the end of the 1990s. He has refused since the start of his hospitalization to be examined by independent experts.
His trial is scheduled to resume on Thursday.
His incarceration sparked a series of riots and looting in South Africa, which last July resulted in the deaths of more than 350 people.
► To read again: The Zuma foundation is launching an appeal on social networks to finance his trial
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South Africa
Jacob Zuma
Justice