Former South Africa police chief Selebi to be sentenced
August 3, 2010
A South African court is to sentence former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi, after he was found guilty on corruption charges.
Selebi, a former president of Interpol, was convicted in July of receiving bribes from a drug dealer.
Convicted dealer Glenn Agliotti paid Selebi 1.2m rand ($156,000, £103,000) to turn a blind eye to his business.
Selebi is the most senior official appointed by the country’s government to have been convicted of corruption.
He was well connected in the ruling African National Congress government.
He was also a former president of the ANC Youth League, served as South Africa’s representative at the UN and was a close ally of former President Thabo Mbeki.
But now the 60-year-old faces 15 years in jail.
‘No fallen angel’
“The fall that the accused already had must have been one of the greatest falls known in our legal history,” Selebi’s defence lawyer Jaap Cilliers told a court hearing on Monday, as a judge considered Selebi’s sentence.
Selebi’s defence team have asked the judge to consider a suspended jail term and a fine.
He has already forfeited 320,722 rand ($43,800, £27,500) as the proceeds of crime.
But prosecutors said Selebi had shown no remorse for his actions.
“We don’t have a fallen angel here. A fallen angel admits when they make a mistake,” said prosecutor Gerrie Nel.
During the trial the court heard how Selebi had spent thousands of dollars on shopping sprees with the money he was given by Agliotti.
Agliotti, who gave evidence against Selebi in return for immunity on bribery charges, is himself on trial for murdering a mining tycoon.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.