INTERPOL ex-president charged with corruption in South Africa court News
INTERPOL ex-president charged with corruption in South Africa court

[JURIST] Suspended South Africa police commissioner and former INTERPOL president Jackie Selebi [BBC profile; INTERPOL profile] was provisionally charged [charge sheet, PDF] Friday in a South African regional court with three counts of corruption and one count of defeating the ends of justice. A spokesperson for South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) [official website] told BBC News that the charges did not amount to a formal indictment. Selebi was not asked to enter a plea, but he has maintained his innocence and said that he will plead not guilty. The court has postponed the case until June 26 to allow prosecutors time to complete investigations.

Selebi was suspended from his police post and forced to resign as INTERPOL president [JURIST report] after the NPA announced the allegations last month. The charges against Selebi relate to 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. Selebi is accused of receiving $170,000 in bribes from Agliotti. The NPA has also said that Selebi had turned a blind eye to Agliotti's drug trafficking, and that he had warned Agliotti that he was had been identified in the Keeble murder investigation. BBC News has more. The Times has local coverage.

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