2011-12-21 22:24
Pretoria – Convicted former police chief Jackie Selebi‘s health is improving, although he remains in hospital, the correctional services department said on Wednesday.
“He remains in hospital at this stage. I can confirm that his health is improving, but he remains in a serious condition,” deputy chief of corrections Zacharia Modise said.
The New Age newspaper reported that Selebi was taken to the nephrology (kidney) ward of the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria on Monday morning under armed guard. The department told the newspaper Selebi was undergoing tests.
Selebi’s lawyer, Wynanda Coetzee, was not immediately available for comment.
The disgraced former police chief was booked into Johannesburg Prison on December 5 to start a 15-year jail term.
He was found guilty of corruption for accepting money from convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti, and for giving Agliotti benefits that included showing him a British drug investigation report. Selebi was president of Interpol at the time.
His appeal against his corruption conviction failed in the Supreme Court of Appeal on December 2.
Selebi watched the judgment on television at home and collapsed when he heard the outcome, Coetzee said at the time.
– SAPA
More:
Selebi’s health improving – department