Jackie Selebi’s advocate has accused drug-lord Glenn Agliotti — again — of lying.
Senior counsel Jaap Cilliers put it to Agliotti on Friday morning that he lied about dates on which Selebi allegedly collected cash parcels from his Midrand office.
A tired-looking Agliotti told Judge Meyer Joffe in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg he might have been wrong about the dates, but that he ”definitely” stands by his story that he gave Selebi money.
Agliotti testified during evidence in chief that Selebi collected R200 000 from him on December 13 2004.
Cilliers told Agliotti that was impossible — Selebi was involved in a government announcement about police salaries on that day and he’s got the press release to prove it.
Agliotti then told the court that it might have been the next day — December 14. Cilliers accused Agliotti of ”keeping open a back door” and then, smiling from ear to ear, surprised the state’s star witness with: ”I’m gonna close that back door for you now. The accused was in Upington on 14 and 15 December and we have copies of the pilot’s log to show he flew on the morning of December 14.”
Agliotti grudgingly responded: ”I then have to accept that the accused was out of town. I know I gave the accused amounts of money. I tried to the best of my ability to put dates to it. If I was incorrect, then that is it.”
Cilliers also put it to Agliotti that the R200 000 was not for Selebi, but to pay back IT businessman James Murray money he [Agliotti] owed him for an unsuccessful bid to tender with the police.
Agliotti stuck to his story that the cash was for the former top cop.
Court adjourned early on Friday with Cilliers telling Joffe he would probably finish his cross-examination of Agliotti at tea time on Tuesday, when proceedings resume.