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A South African court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for former president Jacob Zuma.

The warrant was issued after he failed to appear in court, claiming he was in need of medical treatment.

Zuma’s lawyer presented the judge with a sick note from a military hospital.

The State prosecutors also raised questions over Zuma’s medical note submitted to the court.

State prosecutors requested information from Zuma’s team about his ailments, but they haven’t been able to provide details.

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Zuma’s attorney Dan Mantsha however said Zuma’s health matter was one of national security.

“It is absurd for the State to doubt admissibility of the medical note stamped by our own military official,” Mantsha said.

“Judges are human beings,” says Daniel Mantsha, lawyer for @PresJGZuma – a warrant of arrest has been issued against Zuma who failed to appear in court, allegedly due to medical reasons. @News24 #ZumaTrial (@kaveels) pic.twitter.com/UmiO6cQPfj — Team News24 (@TeamNews24) February 4, 2020

The judge in his ruling questioned whether the medical note was valid or even written by a doctor.

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The court however ordered that he is arrested only on May 6 if he fails to show up in court for the resumption of his corruption trial.

In 2018 the South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced that the country’s former president would be facing prosecution for 18 charges of corruption.

The charges relate to 783 questionable payments Zuma allegedly received in connection with the controversial multi-billion rand arms deal.

Jacob Zuma according to the NPA boss would be facing charges including 1 count of racketeering, 2 counts of money laundering and 12 counts of fraud.

Source: Africafeeds.com