More allegations against Selebi
If these allegations by ex Justice William Heath are true, this is going to be a huge scandal. Money qoute:
Speaking on Moneyweb Radio Monday night, Heath painted a picture of how the police, steered by controversial national commissioner Jackie Selebi not only failed to act on evidence given to them, but appeared to purposely bungle the investigation into Kebble’s death. Selebi is (or certainly was) a friend of Agliotti.Judge Heath, of course, is not coming to the party with a spotless reputation. He was after all employed by Kebble in an attempt provide a veneer of respectability to his operation.
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4 comments:
It is rather myopic for a judge and a constitutional law expert to trample on Selebi and Agliotti's rights of being innocent until proven guilty. The case has barrely started and the media and it's "analysts" have handed down their verdicts.What if the president would have appointed the commission of inquiry and it investigate the relationship between the two men. Wouldn't this prejudice the criminal trail of the murder of Brett Kebble?
thiido, if you read my post again you will see there is no verdict handed down and now rights trampled on. Its an allegation that was made and is out there in the public sphere. In a democracy when such allegations are made they must be dealt with because politics is about perception. That is a different process from the legal process that decides beyond reasonable doubt whether a person is guilty of a crime. If we always used this standard in any political discussion we will never be able to express any opinion about any politician. I am not saying they are the same, but you know, PW Botha or Magnus Malan or even Wouter Basson was never convicted of a crime and are therefore in terms of criminal alw "innocent". But politically in my book they are not innocent.
Prof. I get the point on perception of the public on political enviroment, but the fundamental question is where does the public get this "negative" perception? From the media through our learned "analysts", but perception is the premise of deception. Could you clarify the consequences of having a murder trial and a commission of enquiry running parallel with Agliotti as the "suspect".
Unless one lives in a totalitarian society it is not possible to manage news in such a way that only absolutely verifiable truth is ever put out in the media. But then, if one lived in a totalitarian society what would be put out as truth would be what rulers wanted the people to know, which would not be the truth at all. In a democracy one is stuck with an imperfect media and it is for politicians and other public figures to deal with that, tough luck.
About the murder trial: if Mr Selebi is somehow a suspect in the trial one would not want to have two processes going, of course. But if he was a suspect he would obviously have to take a leave of absence or be suspended. One cannot have the head of the police under a cloud of suspicion when he has the power to interfere in an investigation about his own conduct. If he is not a suspect but is somehow not above board, we would want to know about this and for that one would need an enquiry. It is very bad for the legitimacy of the police to have such untested allegations hanging over the top cop. I would say if Mr Selebi has nothing to hide he should welcome an investigation to clear his name. The fact that he has not demanded an investigation is food for thought in itself. If there is such a commisison of enquiry, it would not affect in any way the murder trial of Mr Agliotti becuase jugdes who try Agliotti would be presumed not to be swayed by evidence not put before them.
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