Word: south
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Jackie Selebi, the former South African ambassador to the U.N. and head of Interpol, finally went on trial in Johannesburg on Oct. 5 after nearly two years of court delays. A close ally of former President Thabo Mbeki, Selebi is the most senior member of the governing African National Congress (ANC) to go to trial on corruption charges, accused of accepting bribes from a tycoon murder suspect, Glenn Agliotti, and his associates in 2004 and 2005. The case is being seen as a critical test of South Africa's judicial system. Since being elected President in April, Jacob Zuma...
...counts of tax evasion. In return for the money and gifts he gave to Selebi, Agliotti testified, Selebi tried to influence police cases involving him and his associates and tipped him off about investigations and surveillance operations the government had launched against him. Selebi denies all charges. (Read "South Africa's Succession Fight...
...Agliotti is a familiar name in South Africa. He is charged with the murder of his former mining boss and friend Brett Kebble, who was a major donor to the ANC's Youth League, an organization that both Selebi and Nelson Mandela once led. Agliotti denies killing Kebble, who was shot dead as he drove near his house in Johannesburg in 2006, but has admitted taking part in what he described as an "assisted suicide." Agliotti has said that Kebble, who had severe money troubles, had wanted to die and that he had merely helped with arrangements. The case goes...
...Although Selebi's trial signifies a step forward in prosecuting allegations of corruption in South Africa, few expect it will do much to clean up the country's politics. With the prosecutor's dropping the corruption case against Zuma weeks before he was elected, the allegations against him remain unresolved. And while Zuma has taken pains to include a broad spectrum of leaders from different parties and factions within the ANC in his Cabinet, his appointment earlier this month of Mo Shaik to head South Africa's intelligence service raised a few eyebrows. Shaik's brother Schabir Shaik was convicted...
...Read "Zuma's First Moves as South African President...