Further hitch in Selebi graft trial
9 February 2010, 09:06
By Alex Eliseev
The judge in whose hands Jackie Selebi's fate rests was adamant last week he wanted no delays in clearing the final hurdle to the resumption of the former police chief's trial on corruption charges.
But a missed deadline at the Constitutional Court on Monday threatened to cause Judge Meyer Joffe yet more frustration.
Lawyers representing the Ministry of State Security were to have filed an application with the country's highest court arguing that retired spy boss Barry Gilder should not testify in the Selebi trial. Their application is their final attempt to keep Gilder off the witness stand.
By closing time on Monday the Constitutional Court had not received the application.
The ministry will now need to ask for special permission to file later than the deadline - something they are likely to blame on logistics and tight deadlines.
Judge Joffe had fast-forwarded the deadlines that normally apply to the Constitutional Court in a bid to ensure Selebi's trial - which began in October - would resume on March 1.
He ordered that once the ministry filed, State prosecutor Gerrie Nel and his team respond by Friday.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga confirmed that the State attorneys representing Nel's team had received their copy of the application from the ministry on Monday and that Nel was to collect it in Joburg on Tuesday.
Nel and fellow prosecutor Andrea Johnson have legal representation because of the nature of the civil, interdepartmental legal battle.
Mhaga said he did not know why the ministry had failed to file its papers yesterday, but believed there would be no delays in the response.
The ministry's application is likely to be similar to that which failed at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) late last month. That application followed an unsuccessful appeal to the Johannesburg High Court in November.
Despite much of the evidence being in the public domain and Judge Joffe's ruling that proceedings be held in camera, the ministry is adamant that Gilder's testimony would endanger national security.
It has argued that through cross-examination, secrets may be leaked. Also, because of a dispute over the existence of a draft top-secret report - crucial to the case against Selebi - the entire document may have to be laid out before court.
Selebi is alleged to have shown it to his then-friend, convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti.
It contained an allegation - erased from the final report - about money flowing from the Kebble family empire to Selebi.
The judge in whose hands Jackie Selebi's fate rests was adamant last week he wanted no delays in clearing the final hurdle to the resumption of the former police chief's trial on corruption charges.
But a missed deadline at the Constitutional Court on Monday threatened to cause Judge Meyer Joffe yet more frustration.
Lawyers representing the Ministry of State Security were to have filed an application with the country's highest court arguing that retired spy boss Barry Gilder should not testify in the Selebi trial. Their application is their final attempt to keep Gilder off the witness stand.
By closing time on Monday the Constitutional Court had not received the application.
The ministry will now need to ask for special permission to file later than the deadline - something they are likely to blame on logistics and tight deadlines.
Judge Joffe had fast-forwarded the deadlines that normally apply to the Constitutional Court in a bid to ensure Selebi's trial - which began in October - would resume on March 1.
He ordered that once the ministry filed, State prosecutor Gerrie Nel and his team respond by Friday.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga confirmed that the State attorneys representing Nel's team had received their copy of the application from the ministry on Monday and that Nel was to collect it in Joburg on Tuesday.
Nel and fellow prosecutor Andrea Johnson have legal representation because of the nature of the civil, interdepartmental legal battle.
Mhaga said he did not know why the ministry had failed to file its papers yesterday, but believed there would be no delays in the response.
The ministry's application is likely to be similar to that which failed at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) late last month. That application followed an unsuccessful appeal to the Johannesburg High Court in November.
Despite much of the evidence being in the public domain and Judge Joffe's ruling that proceedings be held in camera, the ministry is adamant that Gilder's testimony would endanger national security.
It has argued that through cross-examination, secrets may be leaked. Also, because of a dispute over the existence of a draft top-secret report - crucial to the case against Selebi - the entire document may have to be laid out before court.
Selebi is alleged to have shown it to his then-friend, convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti.
It contained an allegation - erased from the final report - about money flowing from the Kebble family empire to Selebi.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of The Pretoria News on February 09, 2010
Durban
