Former South African President Jacob Zuma surrendered to police Wednesday to begin serving a prison sentence. The one-time leader of South Africa, who has claimed to be the victim of a political plot against him, was sentenced for 15 months in prison for contempt of court after he refused to testify in a corruption inquiry conducted by a council he himself established. Protesters gathered at his home to express support for him and outrage over the sentence. Zuma, 79, issued a dire statement: “Sending me to jail during the height of a pandemic, at my age, is the same as sentencing me to death.” The former president was once imprisoned for 10 years on Robben Island in the same detention facility as Nelson Mandela.