South African ex-president Jacob Zuma will released from prison next week to next week to appear in person rather than through video link in a long-running corruption investigation.
Judge Piet Koen said the hearing, which will begin on August 10 in the northeastern city of Pietermaritzburg, “will proceed in an open court.”
Zuma, 79, began a 15-month prison sentence last month in a different case that provoked rioting and looting.
Soon later, he appeared in court via video link for the corruption trial, despite his lawyers’ claims that the online format was unconstitutional and violated his right to face-to-face communication with his counsel.
Zuma is accused with 16 counts of fraud, bribery, and racketeering in connection with the acquisition of fighter jets, patrol boats, and other equipment from five European armaments companies in 1999, while he was the country’s deputy president.
He is accused of accepting payments from one of the companies, Thales, a French defense conglomerate that has been implicated with corruption and money laundering.
Next week’s hearing will start off with Zuma’s application to have the state’s chief prosecutor, Billy Downer, recused from the case on allegations of bias and leaking information to the media.
Zuma’s Foundation welcomed the decision to have the case heard in an open court and tweeted “Now Mr Downer, will be processed properly”.
During the last sitting, Wim Trengove, an attorney representing the national prosecution, rejected requests for Downer’s recusal as “merely a ruse” aimed at further delaying the case.
During the most recent hearing, Wim Trengove, an attorney for the national prosecution, dismissed pleas for Downer’s recusal as “merely a gimmick” intended to prolong the case.
Zuma has been fighting a rearguard action to have the accusations dropped for more than a decade, and the proceedings have been continually postponed.
Zuma, on the other hand, was sentenced to 15 months in prison last month for refusing to comply with a court order.
During the most recent hearing, Wim Trengove, an attorney for the national prosecution, dismissed pleas for Downer’s recusal as “merely a gimmick” intended to prolong the case.
Zuma has been fighting a rearguard action to have the accusations dropped for more than a decade, and the proceedings have been continually postponed.
Zuma, on the other hand, was sentenced to 15 months in prison last month for refusing to comply with a court order.
On July 8, he began serving his sentence at Estcourt jail, around 100 kilometers outside Pietermaritzburg. He was allowed to leave prison two weeks later to attend his brother’s burial.
