South African Court Hears Appeal from Jailed Ex-President Zuma Amid Violent Protests
Voice of America
A South African court Monday began hearing an appeal launched by former President Jacob Zuma on his lengthy prison sentence in the wake of violent protests against his imprisonment.
According to Reuters, Zuma’s lawyers asked the court to release the 79-year-old Zuma partly on the grounds that the Constitutional Court improperly imposed the sentence in his absence. Zuma reported to a prison facility in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal last week to begin serving a 15-month sentence on contempt of court charges after he failed to testify before a special inquiry looking into wide-ranging allegations of official corruption during his nine years in office, which ended in 2018. His lawyers are also arguing that he will be at risk of catching COVID-19 while imprisoned.
FILE - People hold a banner during a public rally held for the Myanmar community in Australia calling for ASEAN to not support the Myanmar Military Junta, outside the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit venue, in Melbourne, Australia March 4, 2024. FILE - Myanmar military officers march during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 79th Armed Forces Day, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2024.
FILE - The Treasury Department is seen in Washington, Jan. 18, 2023.
FILE - Venancio Mondlane gestures to supporters gathered to celebrate the results in the local elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Oct. 12, 2023. Mondlane finished second in Mozambique's presidential election on Oct. 9, 2024.
FILE - Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski speaks to reporters during his visit in Kyiv, Dec. 22, 2023.
FILE - The Chinese ship, the bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, right, is anchored and being monitored by a Danish naval patrol vessels in the sea of Kattegat, near the City og Granaa in Jutland, Denmark, Nov. 20, 2024.
FILE - In this May 28, 2017, photo, members of the Biafran separatist movement gather in Umuahia, Nigeria. Police in Finland said on Nov. 21, 2024, the movement's leader and four others were arrested for alleged terror-related activities.
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Nov. 22, 2024, shows Ukrainian firefighters working on a spot following an air attack, in Sumy.
Palestinians check the rubble of a building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike south of Gaza City on Nov. 22, 2024.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during an opening ceremony of a defense exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea, Nov. 21, 2024.
FILE - Activists participate in a demonstration against fossil fuels at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 16, 2024. FILE - Pipes are stacked up to be used for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project in Durres, Albania, April 18, 2016, to transport gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan, across Turkey, Greece, Albania and undersea into southern Italy.