[JURIST] A South African magistrate Thursday set April 14, 2009 as the start of the corruption and fraud trial of suspended police commissioner Jackie Selebi [BBC profile, JURIST news archive]. The South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) [official website] charged Selebi, the former president of INTERPOL [organization website], with corruption [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] in connection with his alleged relationship with Glenn Agliotti [Mail and Guardian report], a convicted drug smuggler suspected of involvement in the murder of South African mining head Brett Keeble. AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

Selebi is a close political ally of South African President Thabo Mbeki [official profile] and on Thursday the South African government extended Selebi's contract [BBC report] for an additional year. Selebi was suspended from his police post and forced to resign as INTERPOL president [JURIST report] after the NPA announced the allegations last month. Selebi is accused of receiving $170,000 in bribes from Agliotti. The NPA has alleged that Selebi ignored Agliotti's drug trafficking and warned Agliotti that he had been identified in the Keeble murder investigation.