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.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.