PRETORIA: Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, reported back to prison on Friday only to be swiftly released, in the latest twist over the 81-year-old’s contempt of court sentence.
The prison service said that Zuma was ordered to report back to jail and he arrived at 6:00 am (local time) at a prison in eastern town of Estcourt, according to AFP.
But he was released in just over an hour as part of a “remission process” aimed at addressing overcrowding in jail, the Correctional Services national commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale said.
Thobakgale added that upon admission into the detention acility, Zuma was subjected to administrative processes. He was then let go.
Sentence to ex-South African ruler
Zuma was sentenced to fifteen months in June 2021 after refusing to testify before a panel investigating cronyism and financial corruption under his presidency — but was released on medical parole just two months into his term.
He began serving his jail term early in July 2021.
