Corruption Trial of South Africa’s Zuma Resumes Monday
Voice of America
The corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma resumes with a hearing Monday, following several days of deadly riots linked to his imprisonment in a separate case.
Zuma is expected to appear virtually when the proceedings begin at Pietermaritzburg High Court in the former president’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal. He is charged with multiple counts of corruption, fraud and racketeering in connection with a massive 1999 arms deal involving French defense giant Thales when he served as deputy president. The company has also been charged with corruption and money laundering. The 79-year-old Zuma surrendered to authorities in his home province nearly two weeks ago to begin serving a 15-month prison sentence handed down by the Constitutional Court in late June. The sentence was for failing to appear before an inquiry into corruption during his nine-year presidency which ended in 2018. His surrender triggered angry protests in KwaZulu-Natal which soon evolved into rioting, looting and arson that spread into Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city and economic hub. More than 200 people were killed in the violence before security forces were deployed to restore order. Over one thousand people have been arrested for theft and vandalism.
FILE - This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows Gisele Pelicot and her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, during his trial at the Avignon court house in Avignon, France, Sept. 17, 2024.
A Chinese national flag flutters in front of the HSBC headquarters and the Standard Chartered Building in Hong Kong, Sept. 22, 2020.
Soldiers stand next to detained migrants in Tripoli, Libya, in this photo released on Nov. 25, 2024. (Libyan Army 444th Combat Brigade/Handout via Reuters)
Ma Ying-li, second from right, stands with the crew after winning the Best Narrative Feature award for "An Unfinished Film" at the 61st Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, Taiwan, Nov. 23, 2024. Ma is the wife of the film's director, Lou Ye.
Firefighters and security officers gather at a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria, Nov. 14, 2024.
FILE - Somalis march against the Ethiopia-Somaliland port deal along KM4 street in Mogadishu, Jan. 11, 2024.
A view shows a partially submerged rubbish bin on a mud-covered street, in the aftermath of Storm Bert, in Cwmtillery, South Wales, Britain, Nov. 25, 2024.
A Cambodian Mine Action Center, CMAC, staff member checks a mine detector at a minefield in Preytotoeung village, Battambang province, Cambodia, Jan. 19, 2023.
FILE - A boat arrives at the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, March 31, 2012. At least 22 Somali citizens died when two boats sailing from Somalia to the French territory of Mayotte capsized.
A municipal worker inspects a house damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Nov. 25, 2024. This photograph taken on Nov. 25, 2024 shows damaged cars in the courtyard of a destroyed building following a missile attack in Odesa.
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung arrives at a court in Seoul on November 25, 2024.