A South African court on Wednesday ordered former President Jacob Zuma to return to prison, invalidating the medical parole he was granted in September.
The decision to place Zuma on medical parole is “declared unlawful and set aside”, read the ruling by High Court Judge Elias Matojane.
Within hours, Zuma’s lawyers had filed a motion to appeal. The move means that Zuma will not return to prison until the appeal is heard.
In their filing, his lawyers said the court’s decision “amounts to cruel and degrading punishment with no due regard to the patient’s healthcare, dignity and other human rights.”
Zuma, 79, was jailed in July for 15 months for contempt of court, after he refused to give testimony to corruption investigators.
His jailing sparked violent protests and looting that spread to the financial hub Johannesburg in July, claiming over 350 lives.
That was the deadliest violence in South Africa since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.
Current President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the unrest as an orchestrated attempt to destabilise the country.
