Headline

South African Appeal Court Orders Zuma Back To Jail

Published

3 years ago

November 21, 2022

An appeal court in South Africa said on Monday that former president, Jacob Zuma, was unlawfully given medical parole from a jail term last year and should return to prison to complete his sentence.

Zuma, 80, had been handed a 15-month term in June 2021 for contempt of court, a move that triggered deadly unrest.But he served only two months before being given parole for medical reasons that remain unclear.

Parole was granted by the head of South Africa’s prison service, despite an opinion by the service’s medical committee that Zuma did not meet the required conditions.

“This court has now determined that Mr Zuma’s release on medical parole was unlawful,” the supreme court of appeal said.

“Mr Zuma in law has not finished serving this sentence. He must return to the Estcourt Correctional Center to do so,” it said, referring to a jail northwest of the city of Durban.

According to medical assessments cited in the appeal court’s decision, Zuma has problems linked to high blood pressure, elevated levels of blood sugar and lesions of the colon.

Zuma, a prominent figure in the fight against apartheid, became president in 2009 and was forced to step down in disgrace by the ANC in 2018 following mounting corruption allegations.

But he remains a revered figure among grassroots members of the ruling African National Congress, who perceive him as a defender of the poor and oppressed.

When his jail term was announced, violent protests broke out that spiralled into looting, leaving 350 people dead.

The order by the supreme court of appeal is unlikely to be the final word in the long-running saga, as Zuma still has recourse to the Constitutional Court, the highest judicial instance in the land.

The prison authorities last month announced that Zuma’s 15-month term was now formally over.

He has since made several public appearances, singing and dancing before his supporters, and launched a verbal attack on his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing him of graft and treason.

Ramaphosa faces a crucial ANC conference next month, seeking re-election at a time when he is under pressure over allegations that he concealed a multi-million-dollar cash heist at his luxury farmhouse.

Zuma was jailed for refusing to testify to a high-level inquiry into massive state corruption that unfolded under his presidency.

He also faces separate corruption charges over an arms deal dating back more than two decades.

AFP/PUNCH

Headline

Morocco Jails Student One Year Over Gen Z Protest

Published

22 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A student arrested during Morocco’s youth-led protests has been sentenced to one year in prison, his lawyer told AFP on Friday.

The case marks the first publicly known prison sentence linked to the kingdom’s Gen Z demonstrations, which have been held near-daily between late September and last week to demand social and political reforms.

The student was charged with “participating in an unauthorised and unarmed gathering” and “insulting the judicial police by providing false information”, lawyer Mohamed Nouini said.

“The ruling is unfair, and we will appeal,” he added, arguing that sit-ins did not require authorisation as per a Supreme Court precedent.

The lawyer said his client was arrested on September 30, three days after the protests erupted in the North African country.

According to a report by news website Hespress, citing another lawyer, the student’s arrest was “an unfortunate coincidence” as he was in Casablanca for a family visit.

The other lawyer, Mohamed Lakhdar, told the judge the student had “not insulted” police nor provided false information, telling them he “was just a student”, according to the report.

Hundreds were arrested during the early days of the largely peaceful demonstrations.

Some cities had seen spates of violence and acts of vandalism, while authorities have said three people were killed by police acting in “self-defence” during clashes in a village near Agadir.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said roughly 550 people are facing prosecution on suspicion of joining the protests, with some still in detention.

The organisers of the online-based movement behind the nationwide protests, the GenZ 212 youth collective, remain unknown.

The collective has called for “peaceful sit-ins” on Saturday and demanded the release of those arrested during the demonstrations.

The protest came after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir.

But protesters have also demanded reforms to the education system and a change of government.
AFP

Headline

Trump Refiles $15bn Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

Published

24 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge.

Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organizations he accuses of bias against him.

The Times’ complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump, and its excessive 85-page length.

The suit filed Thursday in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.

It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.

The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.

It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Trump “with actual malice.”

“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.

The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

AFP

Headline

Italian Journalist’s Car Bombed, No Casualties

Published

24 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A bomb destroyed the vehicle of a prominent Italian journalist overnight, without causing casualties, his investigative television news show announced Friday.

Sigfrido Ranucci’s car blew up in an explosion in Pomezia, near Rome, that also damaged the family’s other car and the house next door, according to Report, which broadcasts on RAI public television.

“The force of the explosion was so strong that it could have killed anyone passing by at the moment,” it said in a statement on X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly condemned what she called a “serious act of intimidation”.

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“The freedom and independence of information are non-negotiable values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend,” she wrote on X.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he had ordered an increase in the journalist’s security “to the maximum”.

He called the attack a “cowardly and extremely serious act that represents an attack not only on the person but on the freedom of the press and the fundamental values of our democracy”.

The Report show is known for its in-depth investigative reports.

According to the campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Italy ranks 49th in the world in terms of press freedom.

“Journalists who investigate organised crime and corruption are systematically threatened and sometimes subjected to physical violence for their investigative work,” it said in its latest update.

About 20 journalists currently live under permanent police protection after being the targets of intimidation and attacks, it added.

AFP