Selebi goes to jail
2011-12-02 10:16
Former police chief Jackie Selebi must report to the Johannesburg prison for a 15-year jail sentence in 48 hours.
This after the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed Selebi’s appeal against his corruption conviction and sentence this morning.
A unanimous bench of five judges dismissed Selebi’s appeal.
“There can therefore be no question that the state succeeded in proving the guilt of the appellant beyond reasonable doubt and the court a quo (below) was justified in convicting the appellant of corruption,” said Judge Kenneth Mthiyane, bringing to a close a case that ran for more than two years.
Selebi was appointed police chief in 2000 by his close ally, former president Thabo Mbeki.
In 2006, after the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble, the Mail & Guardian revealed Selebi’s links to underworld boss Glenn Agliotti.
It later emerged that Agliotti had bribed Selebi with parcels of cash in exchange for having access to the chief of police.
Selebi attended meetings with Agliotti’s business partners and gave him access to secret intelligence reports.
Because the criminal case was heard in the jurisdiction of the Johannesburg High Court, Selebi must report to the Johannesburg prison, also known as “Sun City”, by Sunday afternoon.
No constitutional matters were raised by Selebi’s counsel during the appeal and chances are very slim for the disgraced top cop to appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Even if he did, Selebi would still have to start serving his prison sentence by Sunday, pending a possible Constitutional Court hearing.
Read the judgment here.
- City Press