Zuma will no longer appear in court this week
Zuma’s case was withdrawn, he was scheduled to return to court on Tuesday to resume his attempt to remove prosecutor Billy Downer.
On Monday, a case in which former President Jacob Zuma was attempting to remove advocate Billy Downer as the lead prosecutor in his arms-deal corruption trial was withdrawn off the docket at the last minute.
He was scheduled to return to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday.
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On Tuesday, a virtual case management meeting with the state and defense in the former president’s corruption trial will take place.
WHAT WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED?
Zuma claims Downer illegally exposed his private medical records to the media.
Judge Piet Koen has previously recused himself from the long-delayed trial.
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Zuma returns to court barely days after being released from prison under a ‘special remission’ granted by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
According to Correctional Services national commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale, he was let go in just over an hour as part of a “remission process” aiming to address overcrowding in prison.
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Upon admission into the system, he was subjected to administrative processes… He was then released,” Thobakgale explained during a press conference in Pretoria.
WHY WAS ZUMA ARRESTED?
For refusing to appear before the Zondo Commission, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court.
He was granted medical parole after two months, but a court decision supported by the constitutional court ruled that decision to be illegal. The chief of South Africa’s prisons department was expected to announce his decision to return to prison this week. The remission on Friday appears to have rendered that decision moot.
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Zuma’s imprisonment in 2021 sparked violent riots that killed over 300 people, and there were fears that if he was released, there would be further unrest.