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The Correctional Services Department stated that Jacob Zuma will complete the remaining 15 months in prison in the community correctional system.
Prison authorities confirmed that former South African President Jacob Zuma has been released on medical parole.
Zuma, 79, refused to attend the judicial committee investigating corruption during his nearly ten-year presidency. Two months ago, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the country’s Constitutional Court for contempt of court.
The former president began serving his sentence in Estcourt Prison in the eastern part of KwaZulu-Natal province, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of Durban, on July 8. He was subsequently sent to the hospital for surgery.
Two weeks later, he was allowed to be released from prison and went to his brother’s funeral at his home in the rural village of Encandela.
“Zuma’s medical parole means that he will complete the remaining sentence in the community corrections system, so he must comply with a set of specific conditions and be supervised before the end of his sentence,” a statement from the Correctional Services Department late Sunday Said in.
The department stated that the decision was driven by a medical report received.
“In addition to being terminally ill and physically incapacitated, prisoners with diseases that severely restrict daily activities or self-care can also consider parole for medical treatment,” it said.
Zuma’s July imprisonment led to violent riots in South Africa, killing more than 300 people and witnessing robbery and vandalism. It is estimated that South African companies lost billions of rand.
His successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, described the riots as a well-planned attempt to destabilize the country and promised to crack down on suspected instigators.
The Jacob Zuma Foundation welcomed the former president’s decision to serve the remaining sentence outside the prison.
The foundation said in a statement: “He is still in the hospital,” and added that “after consulting with President Zuma’s legal team, more detailed comments will be made in due course”.
Corruption trial is imminent
Since August 6, Zuma has been hospitalized in a medical institution outside the prison for unknown reasons. He underwent surgery on August 14.
The prison authorities called on South Africans to “give him dignity while Mr. Zuma continues to receive treatment.”
Earlier on Sunday, some veterans of the ruling ANC armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe had stood firmly behind Zuma in recent years when they disrupted the party’s chairman Gwede Mantashe at the funeral of a member of the organization. Eulogy. The leader chanted that Zuma was released from prison.
At the same time, Zuma’s long-term corruption trial on an arms trade dating back more than two decades was postponed to September 9 last month, pending a medical report on his suitability for trial.
Due to Zuma’s efforts to dismiss the charges, the lawsuit was repeatedly postponed for more than ten years.
Zuma faces 16 counts of fraud, corruption, and extortion related to the purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms companies when he was vice president in 1999.
He was accused of taking bribes from one of the companies, the French defense giant Thales, who was charged with corruption and money laundering.
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