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Chiluba at home ahead of trial
12/08/2007 16:37 - (SA)
Lusaka - Disgraced former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba who was flown to South Africa for medical treatment, has returned home ahead of his corruption trial this week, his aide said on Sunday.
"He returned home on Saturday. He is still ill and may appear in court depending on his condition," his spokeperson Emmanuel Mwamba said.
The ailing Chiluba, 65, is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday on charges of corruption and embezzlement of public funds amounting to $500 000.
The trial has been delayed for several months due to Chiluba's sickness, an acute heart condition that has confined him to bed.
The Zambian court ruled in July that Chiluba would stand trial despite his illness, either through a video-link to his house or the judge will go to his residence to hear his case.
Chiluba spent three weeks in a South African clinic where he underwent treatment for a cardiac complications.
"I am surviving on God's will," he said in a television interview on his return on Saturday.
Chiluba, who ruled Zambia for 10 years until 2001 when he retired, was in May found guilty by a London high court of stealing over $50m in state funds.
The former president has consistently denied the accusations, saying they were politically-motivated by his hand-picked successor, President Levy Mwanawasa, who turned against him when he took over the presidency.
- AFP
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