The murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble was an assisted suicide, according to an affidavit submitted to the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in support of Kebble murder accused Glenn Agliotti’s bail application.
Agliotti was granted bail of R500 000 and the matter was postponed to January 25. Magistrate Chris Eksteen said: ”The court is satisfied that by way of evidence tendered through the affidavits, sufficient exceptional circumstances exist to grant bail.”
Agliotti, charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the 2005 murder in Johannesburg of Kebble, will be placed under 24-hour house arrest. He may only leave his home in Bryanston, Johannesburg, with the written permission of either the investigating officer or the state advocate. He also had to hand in his passport.
Kebble initially planned to drug his pilot, causing his plane to crash, but later opted for a botched carjacking, said Agliotti’s advocate, Lawrence Hodes, in the affidavit. An assisted suicide constitutes an ”exceptional circumstance”, which would take the matter out of the realm of a schedule-six offence, according to the affidavit.
Schedule-six offences include murder, death caused while the accused is committing rape, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping, among others.
Scorpions advocate Gerrie Nel said: ”We agree that the murder could be termed as assisted suicide … we submit the accused took part in the arrangement and planning.”
Nel said the state would not oppose the proposed bail, provided Agliotti was placed under 24-hour house arrest. Other reasons given to support Agliotti’s bail application were that he feared for his safety in prison and that he had no previous convictions.
Trial date
The state intends adding another suspect, John Stratton, one of the co-directors of JCI, to the case. He is currently living in Australia. Since it would take about a year to secure his extradition, Agliotti’s trial will only start in 2008.
Said Nel: ”The soonest the matter would come to court would be at the end of 2007 or the start of 2008. This matter is also part of a bigger investigation that is at a sensitive stage.”
He said Agliotti is subject to further investigation concerning a drug bust in Germiston, currently in court, as well as a fraud case involving Kebble’s JCI and Randgold & Exploration companies.
Following the ruling, a smiling Agliotti stood in the dock shaking hands with a few supporters before he was ordered down to the cells.
It emerged from Agliotti’s affidavit that he had been a prefect and first chorister in his high-school choir, and that he played first-team rugby. He is also a keen golfer.
He also stated that he has adopted a ”previously disadvantaged” child for whose education he is paying. He supports numerous charities, including Hospice, the Cotlands Baby Sanctuary and the Animal Anti-Cruelty League. He is divorced from his first wife due to an extramarital affair and is currently engaged.
Of his work, Agliotti said: ”I’m involved in commodity dealing and raising finance for large projects involving coal, gold, diamonds.”
Before the start of the day’s hearing, Hodes applied to have a handful of Scorpions officers, who were wearing flak jackets and armed with R5 rifles and handguns, present in the courtroom. He said there was cause for concern over Agliotti’s safety. Eksteen granted the request but on condition that they stayed outside the courtroom.
Drug network
The Star reported on Wednesday morning that the National Prosecuting Authority believes Agliotti is the boss of an international crime syndicate that is involved in a multimillion-rand drug-trafficking network.
However, Hodes told the newspaper he ”knows nothing” about plans to charge Agliotti with involvement in such a syndicate. He said he did not attend a brief court appearance on Tuesday by Stephanos Paparas (45), at which it was indicated that another accused was to be added to the charge sheet.
Paparas — who is represented by Hodes’s father, Max — handed himself over on July 13 after the arrest of his elderly father and four others on July 7 during a Scorpions investigation into an international drugs syndicate.
During the probe, hashish and cannabis with an estimated street value of R250 000, believed destined for the overseas market, was seized at a self-storage facility in Alberton.
The Scorpions reportedly told the Star that the person to be added to the charge sheet was Agliotti and that they called him the ”Landlord” — the nickname given to the head of the smuggling network.
The newspaper quoted Nel as saying outside court on Tuesday: ”Agliotti will also appear in this case. I confirm that he is the ‘Landlord’.”
Agliotti has denied being the ”Landlord” and has threatened to sue newspapers for referring to him in this way.
The drug-smuggling case is expected to start in the Germiston Regional Court in January.