Doubt cast on Nassif statement

30 July 2010 - 15:01
By Sapa

Glenn Agliotti's defence counsel continued his onslaught against former security boss Clinton Nassif today in the High Court in Johannesburg.

Nassif's protection from prosecution over his most recent statement to the state on the attempted murder of auditor Stephen Mildenhall and the murder of Brett Kebble also came under scrutiny.

The statement, made in March this year, after the trial date had been set, directly implicates drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti in the crimes.

But defence lawyer Laurence Hodes SC submitted that the statement does not stipulate that Nassif was a Section 204 witness.

Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act says that a witness may be granted full indemnity on a charge should he testify for the state and the court deems this testimony to be honest and frank.

The state argued that the statement did indeed fall under the Section 204 as it merely elaborated on an earlier statement, from November 2006.

The November statement clearly said that Nassif was a Section 204 witness.

However, Hodes is of the view that even if Nassif's testimony was deemed honest, his admissions in the later statement left him open to prosecution.

When made aware of this, Nassif requested that he be given time to consult his attorney, but was denied this as he was already under oath.

The state also used the March statement to broaden the charges against Agliotti.

The cross examination of Nassif was gruelling on Friday, as Hodes constantly labeled him a liar.

The exchange between the two men was so heated that Judge Frans Kgomo had to intervene at one point, telling Nassif to calm down and Hodes to stop interrupting.

The matter was postponed to Monday after all parties agreed that they had had enough for one day.

Agliotti is facing two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of attempted murder and a fourth charge of murder.

The first count is conspiracy to commit the murders of Mark Bristow, Jean Daniel Nortier, Mark Wellesley-Woods and Mildenhall.

The second count is the attempted murder of Mildenhall.

The last two are related to conspiracy to murder Kebble and Kebble's murder.

Kebble was shot in his Mercedes in Melrose, north of Johannesburg in September 2005.

(File photo)

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