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Ex-president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma has been sentenced to 15 months in jail after he was found guilty of contempt of court over his refusal to answer corruption charges.
The ruling was delivered by South Africa’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday, citing contempt of court informed by his refusal to answer charges of corruption brought against him.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail following his lack of willingness to appear before a graft panel.
“The majority judgement orders an unsuspended sentence of imprisonment for a period,” judge Sisi Khampepe said, adding that “the Constitutional Court can do nothing but conclude that Mr Zuma is guilty of the crime of contempt of court.”
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Recall that Zuma was in 2018, forced to step down after being forced out by his own party, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), following a series of corruption scandals.
Under immense pressure, Zuma set up the inquiry shortly before he was ousted. In July 2019, he testified only once before walking out of court and accusing the chair of the commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, of being biased against him.
Since then, Zuma has repeatedly ignored requests to appear in court, citing medical issues and time needed to prepare for a different corruption trial.
In November, he appeared in court briefly but left before he could be questioned. Zondo turned to the Constitutional Court and requested it intervene.
Zuma then refused to participate in contempt of court hearings, addressing an angry letter to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng that described an “atmosphere of judicial hostility” and “humiliation”.
Source: SaharaReporters
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.