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S’African court orders former President Zuma back to prison, cancels medical parole

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A South African High Court on Wednesday, ordered that former President, Jacob Zuma, be returned to prison to finish serving his 15-month jail term.

The order also means that Zuma’s medical parole granted him by a lower court in September has been cancelled.

The presiding judge, Elias Matojane, in his judgement, ruled that the decision to place the 79-year-old on medical parole was “declared unlawful and set aside,” ordering the Department of Correctional Services to return Zuma to jail without further delay.

Zuma was granted a medical parole in September after he was sentenced to 15 months in jail for contempt of court, after he ignored instructions to participate in a corruption inquiry.

READ ALSO: Jacob Zuma loses bid to overturn 15-year prison sentence

The former president whose nine-year reign ended in 2018, had handed himself in on July 7 to begin his prison sentence, which triggered what many described as the worst violence South Africa had seen in years, after angry Zuma supporters took to the streets to protest the judgment.

The protests widened into looting, arson and a general breakdown of law and order, which saw more than 300 people killed and thousands of businesses pillaged and razed.

The High Court’s order came days after Zuma launched a book in which he said he intended “to set the record straight.”

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