The former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma has been freed from prison after serving 15 months, a government agency confirmed on Friday. He was detained for contempt of court after allegations of corruption and criminal abuse of office in a scandal that famously came to be known as ‘state capture.’
President Zuma was then given a 15-month sentence last year because he ignored orders to take part in a corruption investigation, a decision of South Africa’s Constitutional Court announced on June 29 2021 by acting Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe in response to several trials no-shows of the former president.
Jacob Zuma was found guilty of contempt of court as he faced corruption charges due to allegedly enabling the stealing of state funds during his almost nine years in office, of which he claims innocence.
In August 2022, former President Zuma appealed to the High Court judgment which had previously ordered that his release on medical parole was unlawful and irrational. In December, after his sentencing the former correctional services head Arthur Fraser granted medical parole to the former president in spite of the Medical Parole Advisory Board (MPAB) not recommending such, it is reported.
