Former South African President Jacob Zuma’s legal team has quit less than a month before he goes on trial on corruption charges.

Zuma and French arms company are due in court on May 17 on charges related to a $2 billion arms deal from the 1990s, when he served as deputy president.

Zuma is being tried on 16 charges of racketeering, fraud, corruption and money laundering. He denies wrongdoing in the case. Thales has said it has no knowledge of any transgressions committed by its staff over the awarding of the contracts.

France’s foreign minister on Thursday defended a military takeover in Chad despite objections from the opposition there, saying it was necessary for security amid “exceptional circumstances”.
The son of Chad’s slain leader Idriss Deby took over as president and armed forces commander on Wednesday and dissolved the government and parliament as rebel forces threatened to march on the capital.

Under the constitution, the speaker of the National Assembly should have become interim president. But after the military had already shut down parliament, speaker Haroun Kabadi said in a statement that “given the military, security and political context”, he had agreed to a military transition “with full lucidity”.

French Foreign Minister said Kabadi’s position justified the military taking control.