South Africa’s former top policeman has been found guilty of corruption in a case seen as a landmark test of courts’ independence in the democratic era.
Jackie Selebi, also a former president of Interpol, told “five big lies” about his relationship with a convicted drug smuggler, the high court in Johannesburg was told.
Selebi was accused of links to organized crime and taking 1.2 million rand (US$154,800) in bribes to turn a blind eye to drug trafficking. He was convicted of corruption, but cleared of defeating the ends of justice.
Delivering the verdict, Judge Meyer Joffe said Selebi gave evidence that showed “complete contempt for the truth.”
The man once responsible for combating South Africa’s crime epidemic was “a liar, a person of low moral fiber,” he said.
Selebi, 60, sat alone on a courtroom bench, hunched forward and shaking his head as the verdict was read out.
The investigation lasted four years, the trial took nine months and Joffe spoke for one-and-a-half days in delivering his judgment. The case has been described as one of the most important in post-Apartheid South Africa amid fears of a legal system compromised by political meddling and corruption.
Selebi had pleaded not guilty, saying the evidence was fabricated by enemies to punish him for criticizing an elite crime-fighting unit. The unit, known as the Scorpions, was disbanded in 2008 after trying to prosecute Jacob Zuma on corruption charges before he became president. Selebi was an ally of Zuma’s predecessor and rival, Thabo Mbeki.
The star witness in the trial was drug smuggler Glenn Agliotti, who faces trial later this year, accused of the 2005 murder of mining magnate and African National Congress (ANC) financier Brett Kebble. Agliotti has pleaded not guilty, claiming the death was an assisted suicide.
Prosecutors said that in return for 1.2 million rand in cash and gifts over the years, Selebi did favors including letting Agliotti see documents British police sent to their South African counterparts linking him to drug smuggling.
Prosecutors acknowledge Agliotti was a police informer, but said he took Selebi clothes shopping in Johannesburg and London. Agliotti also bought items for Selebi’s sons, wife and girlfriend, including a red leather Louis Vuitton handbag for his wife’s birthday, prosecutors alleged.
Jackson Mthembu, a spokesman for the governing ANC, said the verdict “clearly indicates that South Africa as a country is governed by laws that are applied without any fear or favor to anyone, regardless of their standing.”
Selebi faces at least 15 years in prison, but will remain free on bail until sentencing on July 14 and intends to appeal.
He declined to talk on his way out of court, telling reporters: “I don’t wish to say anything.”
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