Former South African President, Jacob Zuma on Friday appeared before the High Court in Durban to face a 16-counts charge of corruption, racketeering and money laundering.
The 75-year-old Zuma made a 20-minute appearance in the KwaZulu Natal High Court before his trial was adjourned to June 8 following an application by his defense team for time to enable them review the state’s decision to prosecute him.
“The purpose of the adjournment is two-fold. Firstly, in respect of accused number one, Mr. Zuma, we’ve been informed by our learned friends for Mr. Zuma that he wishes to bring a review application on the decision to prosecute him again and in that respect we’ve been informed that they hope to finalize the review papers by the middle of May,” state prosecutor, Billy Downer explained to Judge Themba Sishi of the court.
The charges against Zuma were dropped in 2009. However, the head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Shaun Abrahams announced last month that they would prosecute the former President
Shortly after the hearing, a confident and defiant Zuma addressed the crowd who had come to rally support and stand alongside him at the court in his home province.
“I have never seen it before where someone is charged with a crime, those charges are dropped and then ten years later, those same charges are reinstated. This is just a political conspiracy,” Zuma told the gathering in his native Zulu language.
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