Selebi waiting for court date

‘The Judge President must provide a date for a full Bench,’ said Selebi\'s Advocate Jaap Cilliers in a Mail & Guardian Online report. NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the options were either to go ahead with the Selebi matter regardless of Selebi\'s outstanding application, or to wait for the court to pronounce on Selebi\'s pending application. The NPA has said it would let Selebi know when it planned to make a move. ‘He will not be cuffed,’ said Tlali. Full Mail & Guardian Online report

Convicted drug trafficker and alleged underworld figure Glenn Agliotti’s credibility as a witness could be drawn into question. This follows conflicting sworn statements presented on behalf of Selebi and for the Scorpions, legal experts are quoted as saying in a report in The Times. In papers before the Pretoria High Court in Selebi’s failed attempt to secure an interdict against the Scorpions and National Director of Public Prosecutions, a statement by Agliotti, dated 4 January, claims he ‘never ever bribed Selebi’. Then, in another sworn statement, signed on 10 January, Agliotti recants the ‘pro-Selebi’ statement from 4 January, claiming he had signed the earlier statement without reading it, after having had several glasses of wine .Wits University Law Clinic Professor Stephen Tuson said: ‘If you make two conflicting affidavits it could lead to a charge of perjury. When this goes to court and the deponent gives oral evidence, the defence team could very well argue that he has already made different statements, so why should he be believed now.’ Attorney Themba Langa suggested the case could hinge on Agliotti’s credibility as a star witness. He said: ‘Credibility findings on Agliotti, in this particular case, are critical. All other findings will hang in the balance and will be strongly challenged by Selebi.’ He said the courts frown at ‘such questionable credibility’. Full report in The Times

Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Agency has distanced itself from any involvement in the controversy. The Sunday Times reported that the NIA director-general, Manala Manzini, was among the high ranking officials who allegedly coerced Agliotti into signing the 4 January affidavit. In that statement, Agliotti claimed the case against Selebi was part of a ‘political project’ to overthrow law enforcement and the intelligence agency to benefit the CIA and the FBI – labelled ‘funders of the DSO (Scorpions)’ – and as part of a strategy to save the Scorpions. It included further allegations that the ANC president, Jacob Zuma, Selebi, and former National Intelligence Agency boss Billy Masetlha were others targeted in the same ‘political game’. According to a report in The Times, the statement was submitted by Selebi in a desperate court bid to derail his impending arrest by the elite Scorpions, claiming that the case against him was motivated by a political conspiracy. Intelligence spokesperson Lorna Daniels confirmed that Manzini was present when Agliotti made out his ‘drunken’ affidavit, but said the meeting had been at the request of Agliotti, who informed Manzini that he had some information to share with the intelligence agency boss. She said the agency was not involved with any investigation related to the Selebi case: ‘There is no involvement from the (agency’s) side. This was a once-off meeting requested by Mr Agliotti.’ Full report in The Times

The report that convinced prosecutors to charge Selebi has shaken his claims that there was a lack of evidence against him. Based on untested evidence gathered since 2006, a four-person panel appointed by acting NPA boss Mokotedi Mpshe found ‘sufficient cogent evidence’ to support charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice, says a report in The Star. In a 42-page report, Advocates Mbuyiseli Madlanga and Shamila Batohi and Forensic Investigators Frank Dutton and Peter Goss found ‘overwhelming evidence’ that Selebi was routinely in contact with Glenn Agliotti, who has admitted lavishing money and gifts on the police chief in exchange for favours. Records of telephonic contact between the men showed they phoned each other nearly every day with several calls being made on the night Brett Kebble was gunned down. This contact continued even after police found it necessary to tape an interview with Agliotti several months before Kebble allegedly sought Selebi\'s ‘assistance at a fee’ over an allegation that ‘the Commissioner needed to be taken care of and that \'a million\' was involved. Despite Agliotti\'s claims that he was misusing Selebi\'s name to secure business, the panel noted he had made no effort to distance himself from his self-described ‘friend’. ‘Until explained, such conduct on the part of the Commissioner raises many questions and does not seem to accord with innocence,’ the panel said. Full report in The Star