Legal battle over the health of Zuma, absent for the resumption of his trial
Former South African President Jacob Zuma opens his trial alongside Thales representative Christine Guerrier in Durban on April 6, 2018. Nic Bothma / Pool via Reuters
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The former South African president was not present on Tuesday, September 20, for the resumption of his trial in the Thales affair.
Jacob Zuma is being prosecuted for suspicion of bribes perceived at the end of the 1990s, when he was vice-president, within the framework of an armaments contract with the French company.
Today's hearing focused on the state of health of the accused, who has been granted parole in another case for a month.
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With our correspondent in Johannesburg,
Claire Bargelès
The team of lawyers around Jacob Zuma has not changed its strategy for this resumption of the trial: delay the proceedings, at all costs, thanks to a battery of legal arguments.
First, by refusing, in the name of medical confidentiality, that the detailed reports concerning the health of the former president be transmitted to the judge and the public prosecutor, and that independent experts examine it.
Because if Jacob Zuma is now
on parole
, after being hospitalized, the disease that overwhelms him has never been named, and the reasons that prevent him from appearing in court remain very mysterious.
► To re-read: The South African opposition takes legal action to send Zuma back to prison
The prosecution for its part recalled that "
attendance at court is not optional
" and indicates that its independent medical team considers, on the basis of the information in its possession, that the former head of state is fit to appear. .
The defense also calls for the challenge of the prosecutor, considered biased.
"
I desperately wish to continue this trial,
" said Judge Piet Koen calmly at the start of the hearing, when the facts judged date back to 1999, and the merits of the case have still not been addressed.
Hearings are due to resume on Wednesday at the High Court in Pietermaritzburg.
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Jacob Zuma
South Africa
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