Jacob Zuma’s Corruption Trial Resumes

A South African court on Tuesday resumed a trial that has dragged out for years over a $2 billion arms deal involving ex-president Jacob Zuma, whose legal team was expected to make a plea to remove the prosecutor.

The trial over the 1990s deal was meant to start in May, after being been repeatedly stalled by legal arguments, but was delayed again by Zuma’s request to replace lead prosecutor Billy Downer, whom he accuses of bias.

Zuma’s newly appointed defense team raised concerns over the lead prosecutor and said it might seek his recusal from the case.

News Rain Nigeria recalls that on July 7, Zuma was jailed for failing to cooperate with a separate corruption probe, precipitating some of the worst riots and looting the country has witnessed since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

Jacob Zuma’s Corruption Trial Resumes

More than 300 people were killed and thousands of businesses were pillaged and razed.

Soldiers had to be deployed to quell the violence that erupted after days of riots left many people dead.

His jailing was nonetheless seen as a victory for South Africa’s ability to enforce the rule of law, even against powerful politicians.

The top court on Friday dismissed a bid by Zuma to overturn that 15-month jail sentence.

Zuma, 79, has been convalescing from an undisclosed illness and has been allowed to see out the rest of his sentence at home on health grounds.