American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
South Africa's highest court on Friday denied an application by former president Jacob Zuma to rescind his sentence of 15 months in jail for contempt of court in a ruling viewed as a stern test of the country's resolve to hold powerful figures to account.
The Constitutional Court judgment upheld its own ruling that Zuma should go to prison for refusing to testify at a commission of inquiry into widespread corruption in government and at state-owned companies while he was president of South Africa from 2009-2018.
Zuma, who was forced to resign as president in 2018 amid corruption allegations, still has significant support in parts of South Africa and within the ruling African National Congress party.
He was jailed in July after a long-running dispute with the judicial commission of inquiry, which saw him walk out midway through testimony and refuse to appear again.
The 79-year-old Zuma has since been granted medical parole for an undisclosed illness after serving two months of his sentence. His release from prison has been questioned by opposition parties who say procedure wasn't followed.
The latest judgment doesn't affect Zuma's parole, although South Africa's main opposition party and at least two other organizations have indicated they will challenge that in court as well after the head of the department of corrections said he overruled a decision by the parole board and authorized Zuma's release himself. That will put the judiciary back in the spotlight.
Justice Sisi Khampepe read out Friday's judgment at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg and said it was a majority decision of 7-2 judges to uphold Zuma's sentence. Zuma argued his sentence was improper because, among other things, he had been jailed without trial and the sentence was delivered in his absence.
In their ruling, the seven judges said Zuma refused to participate in the Constitutional Court proceedings that led to him being sentenced and then attempted to reopen the case after it was concluded.
"The hands of the Constitutional Court are bound and Mr. Zuma himself bound them," Justice Khampepe said.
Zuma's imprisonment sparked violent riots and looting in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal and the Gauteng province, South Africa's economic hub, in one of the country's most uncomfortable moments since the end of apartheid in 1994. More than 300 people died, malls were looted and factories and warehouses were burned in what current President Cyril Ramaphosa described as an orchestrated attempt to destabilize Africa's most developed economy.
The riots raised concerns Zuma might be spared jail and the justice system overridden to appease his supporters.
Zuma, a contentious figure for much of his political career, also faces corruption charges in a separate case, where he is accused of taking bribes in connection with South Africa's $4 billion arms deal in 1999 with French manufacturer Thales. His corruption trial, which opened in May, is due to resume next week.
Both cases against Zuma have tested South Africa's resolve to bring an influential figure to justice after years of allegations of wrongdoing.
Ramaphosa, who succeeded Zuma, made a drive to root out corruption the centerpiece of his presidency. Ace Magashule, another powerful figure and the ruling ANC party's secretary general, also faces corruption charges and will go on trial.
Zuma is currently being treated at a hospital, according to his foundation, which has refused to disclose his whereabouts, when he will be discharged or if he will attend court for the scheduled resumption of his corruption trial.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Bayer announced Thursday it is recalling two lots of its hydraSense Baby Nasal Care Easydose due to a potential contamination.
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.