Cape Town – The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has reportedly set aside the decision by former National Commissioner of Correctional Services Arthur Fraser to release former president Jacob Zuma on medical parole.
According to reports, the court ordered Zuma to go back to jail.
“The decision of the first respondent (Mr Arthur Fraser at the time) to place the third respondent on medical parole, taken on September 5, 2021, is reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside,” reads the judgment, according to Times Live.
“It is hereby directed the third respondent be returned to the custody of the department of correctional services to serve out the remainder of his sentence of imprisonment,” the court ruled on Wednesday.
Zuma and the national commissioner were ordered to pay the costs of the medical parole challenge, a News24 report said.
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The former president was granted parole by the department of correctional services in early September – just weeks after he was incarcerated for 15 months for ignoring a court order to testify before a judicial panel probing corruption during his nine-year tenure which lasted until 2018.
His parole was challenged by a number of parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA).
They demanded an explanation from Fraser on the reasons behind his decision to place Zuma on medical parole.
Fraser admitted during an interview with SABC’s Vuyo Mvoko in September that he alone decided to grant medical parole to Zuma.
He said at the time that Zuma had declared his comorbidities.
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Fraser said that after assessments, the medical parole advisory board “did not approve medical parole” because Zuma was “in a stable condition”.
He, however, stood by his decision to overrule this and release the former president because the correctional services department realised that they had a person in their custody who was frail and required specialised treatment.
“I rescinded that and took the decision then to place him (Zuma) on medical parole and I’ve given a host of reasons. The reasons are available. It’s in documentation, and it will be presented to whoever needs to see that. I’m sure parliament will be asking,” Fraser said. at the time.
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