Ex-South Africa President Jacob Zuma appears in prison, released hours later
Africa
By
Sharon Wanga and Agencies
| Aug 11, 2023
Former South Africa President Jacob Zuma has been released from prison hours after he reported to jail on Friday, August 11.
Zuma, 81 years- old was ordered to report back to prison at 6 am local time on Friday, at a detention facility in Estcourt, northwest of Durban in South Africa.
A senior prison official told international media that "he was admitted into the system and let go almost immediately as part of the remission process", a remission status is granted to low-risk and non-violent offenders.
"Upon admission into the system he was subjected to administrative processes ...he was then released," Correctional Services national commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale said.
Zuma started serving his 15 months sentence in July 2021 for refusing to participate in a corruption inquiry during his nine-year tenure in the presidency.
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In court, he denied the corruption allegations.
His arrest led to violent protests in South Africa that resulted in the deaths of over 300 people.
Two months later, he was released on medical parole due to his medical condition.
In November 2022, an appeals court found the release was illegally granted and ordered him back into the Correctional Centre.
In July this year, the Constitutional Court rejected an attempt to overturn a decision by a lower court that found Zuma's release on medical parole was unlawful and that he should return to prison to finish his sentence.