{"id":49190,"date":"2021-07-19T17:09:58","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T14:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kfm.co.ug\/?p=49190"},"modified":"2021-07-19T17:09:58","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T14:09:58","slug":"zumas-graft-trial-resumes-online-without-support-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/zumas-graft-trial-resumes-online-without-support-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"Zuma’s graft trial resumes online without support crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"
By AFP<\/strong><\/p>\n
Ex-president Jacob Zuma returned to court on Monday for the resumption of a long-running graft trial, testifying from jail as proceedings unfolded online in a bid to avert more of the deadly unrest that swept South Africa after he was sentenced in a separate case.<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Security forces threw a cordon around the High Court in the southeastern city of Pietermaritzburg, capital of Zuma’s home region of KwaZulu-Natal, where loyalists have previously gathered in rowdy shows of support.
\nThe measures were later eased to allow street access after the area was deserted.<\/p>\n

Zuma, 79, faces 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering related to the 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms firms when he was deputy president.
\nHe is accused of taking bribes from one of the firms, French defence giant Thales, which has been charged with corruption and money laundering.
\nThe trial started in May after numerous postponements and delays, as Zuma’s legal team battled to have the charges dropped.<\/p>\n

An emotionless Zuma made a virtual appearance from prison in the nearby town of Estcourt, sitting on a black office chair in a white-walled room, clad in a black suit, white shirt and red tie.
\nHe had proclaimed his innocence when he appeared in person for the opening in May. Thales has also pleaded not guilty.
\nOn June 29, Zuma was separately found guilty of contempt of South Africa’s top court for snubbing graft investigators probing his time as president. He was jailed on July 8.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Seeking another delay\u00a0<\/strong>
\nSouth Africa then plunged into chaos, with looting and rioting erupting in KwaZulu-Natal, before spreading to the economic hub of Johannesburg, claiming more than 200 lives.<\/p>\n

The total bill could reach 50 billion rand ($3.4 billion), according to consultancy Intellidex.
\nThe unrest, which fell back at the weekend, was widely seen as at least partially in response to Zuma’s imprisonment.
\nThe trial is resuming virtually to avoid more “disruption”, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) told AFP, although other court cases are also being heard online due to the pandemic.
\nBut Zuma’s legal team claims the online format is unconstitutional and has applied for the trial to be adjourned.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0https:\/\/www.monitor.co.ug\/uganda\/news\/zuma-s-graft-trial-resumes-online-without-support-crowd–3478702<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By AFP Ex-president Jacob Zuma returned to court on Monday for the resumption of a long-running graft trial, testifying from jail as proceedings unfolded online in a bid to avert more of the deadly unrest that swept South Africa after he was sentenced in a separate case. Security forces threw a cordon around the High Court in the southeastern city of Pietermaritzburg, capital of Zuma’s home region of KwaZulu-Natal, where loyalists have previously gathered in rowdy shows of support. The measures were later eased to allow street access after the area was deserted. Zuma, 79, faces 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering related to the 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms firms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":49191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}