South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma is taking the fight to rescind his 15-month imprisonment to the Banjul-based African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights following his exhaustion of all judicial fora in the country, his foundation said at the weekend.
Zuma, who is on medical parole, has now turned to the Gambia-based court to hear his application to rescind the Constitutional Court’s order sentencing him to prison for contempt of court.
The Jacob Zuma Foundation said it would seek justice from Africa’s highest court after he suffered a setback on Friday when the Constitutional Court turned down his request to rescind the 15-month prison sentence.
South Africa’s apex court said the former leader did not have a legal right to reverse the decision to jail him made by the Constitutional Court for his repeated refusals to attend a state commission probing corruption in the country when he was president.
He was sentenced in June for his failure to comply with the apex court’s order to appear and answer questions at the state capture commission of inquiry.
Zuma’s legal team is said to have used a rare provision that allowed for an application to rescind an order of the apex court where it could be proven the order was made in the party’s absence and that an error was made by the court that granted it.
“He has given his lawyers instructions to take the legalization of detention without trial by Acting Chief Justice Zondo and the Constitutional Court to the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights” for hearing, the foundation said.
