ANC youth join in denouncing Selebi

ANC youth join in denouncing Selebi

Jul 4, 2010 12:00 AM | By MZILIKAZI WA AFRIKA

Former top cop Jackie Selebi's conviction for graft is a warning to all ANC leaders, says the party's youth league.

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In the High Court in Johannesburg, Judge Meyer Joffe branded Selebi a liar with "complete contempt for the truth" and a man of "low moral fibre" when he found him guilty of corruption on Friday, nearly a decade after allegations were first levelled against him.

Sentencing starts on July 14.

The ANC Youth League said yesterday it hoped the verdict "will be a lesson to many leaders of the ANC, alliance and all leaders in South Africa that going against the law can tarnish a person's image, irrespective of the contributions one made to the struggle against apartheid oppression or leadership position they hold in society.

"The conviction of comrade Jackie Selebi, who is one of our own, does not erase the massive contributions he made to the struggle against apartheid repression, yet such does not stop the. league from accepting the verdict passed against him by the courts."

Selebi, 60, was found to have taken R1.2-million, some of it from Glenn Agliotti, a convicted drug dealer, who faces charges involving mining magnate Brett Kebble's murder. The court found Selebi did Agliotti favours.

Senior chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel said they had a corrupt relationship.

The court accepted that Agliotti had paid R30 000 to host an Interpol dinner.

"The accused was to attend a dinner in France where he was trying for votes to become president of Interpol," said Agliotti during testimony. Selebi was Interpol president from 2004 to 2008. He resigned after being charged.

Judge Joffe said he should have known "there's no such thing as a free dinner". Agliotti, claiming he often splurged on designer clothes and shoes for Selebi and his family, said: "The accused and I met regularly in Sandton City. I enjoyed shopping. So did he."

Selebi denied the claim, saying: "My children do not wear Fubu. I don't wear Fubu. I will be regarded as a madman should I wear that.

"Glenn Agliotti was my friend, but he was not my bosom friend. He was a friend for a particular purpose, whatever information I could siphon from him I would for the greater good.

"I said he was my friend finish and klaar because I don't know how to explain the nature of our relationship.

"I've never received money from Agliotti or anyone else, I would never do that, I would never sell my soul for money, nor my country," he said.

Selebi called Agliotti's mind creative. "Agliotti is a type of person if I said I were a born-again Christian, he would say that he invited me to meet God."

The judge said: "Agliotti can be described as one of the most untruthful and unreliable witnesses to testify in this court."

When Nel called Selebi a liar, he pleaded with the judge to intervene, saying: "My Lord, I take great exception that I have been called a liar by this prosecutor. He should know better." On Friday the judge found Selebi had lied.

After the judgment, one of Selebi's main accusers, Paul O'Sullivan, said: "Shame on you, Selebi. Shame on you."

mzilikazi@sundaytimes.co.za

Times Alive

Comments by Sonny

The only reason why the ANCYL denounces Selebi is because he is a Mbeki fall man!

Dirty Cop - Finish and Klaar!