Probe urged into Nel arrest

In a letter to the acting executive director of the ICD, Patrick Mongwe, it said it was of ‘national significance’ that the incident be thoroughly investigated. According to a report on the IoL site, the DA also said it appeared as if the police wanted to show the Scorpions who was in control. ‘Sending in 20 armed SAPS members could serve no other purpose. Nel\'s appearance in court could have been secured through a simple phone call, thus treating him with the respect he was due,’ DA spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard said. She said the ICD should establish who ordered the warrant to be served and why. Full report on the IoL site

The SACP has also raised its concern over the stand-off between the two law enforcement agencies. It noted Nel\'s case was only one of many disturbing developments in the criminal justice system. ‘It is now clear to us as the SACP that our government bears enormous responsibility for such a state of affairs, and that it therefore requires urgent attention,’ the party said, according to a report on the Mail & Guardian Online site. The SACP said it would call on the ANC’s national executive committee – scheduled to meet over the weekend – to look at the state of the country\'s criminal justice system and discuss possible interventions. It also believed that Parliament should intervene. ‘The highly unsatisfactory state of our criminal justice system poses one of the most serious threats to our democracy, threatening to erode the confidence of our people in these institutions, making them even more liable to abuse by those in powerful positions and susceptible to infiltration by all kinds of elements with different agendas, including political agendas,’ the party said. Full report on the Mail & Guardian Online site

The charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice against Nel were withdrawn in the Pretoria Regional Court. ‘After careful consideration of the evidence in the docket, the decision was made to withdraw the charges,’ said Chief Prosecutor Matric Lupondo in a Mail & Guardian Online report. Nel’s lawyer, Ian Small-Smith, said that they were ‘relieved with the outcome and Mr Nel just wants to go back to work and carry out his duties.’ Although the charges were withdrawn, they could be reinstated at some stage, but Small-Smith said he doubted this would happen. ‘They were widely criticised after the arrest, after which the Senior Prosecutor felt there wasn\'t a case, which means he should not have been arrested in the first instance – so I will be very surprised if there is another arrest,’ he said. Small-Smith believes that Nel should sue the state for wrongful arrest, but says this is for Nel to decide. Full Mail & Guardian Online report

The dropping of the charges will come as a boost for the Scorpions. A key witness in the Selebi case, Glenn Agliotti, has said in a Business Day report that he feared for his safety and will communicate only with Nel and Andrew Leask, also of the Scorpions. Full Business Day report