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Glenn Agliotti. Picture: LEBOHANG MASHILOANE
Glenn Agliotti. Picture: LEBOHANG MASHILOANE

Glenn Agliotti, who turned state witness against late former police commissioner Jackie Selebi and stood trial for Brett Kebble’s 2005 murder, has died.

Police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo said on Saturday an inquest docket had been opened at Douglasdale police station after Agliotti’s death.

“A postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death. He died in hospital in Johannesburg last night after he fell ill,” Masondo said, without giving more details.

Agliotti was a key figure in the drug-related prosecution of Selebi.

During the court case, three alleged dealers — Stefanos Paparas, his father Dimitri and their driver Stanley Poonin — were acquitted by the Germiston magistrate’s court on the grounds that the evidence against them might be unreliable.

Magistrate Deon Snyman said the three main witnesses testifying against the Paparases and Poonin — Agliotti, Clinton Nassif and Robert Lottman — had been given such good deals by crime-fighting unit the Scorpions that they had every reason to lie.

Lottman was arrested with Pedro Marques, Christiaan Alblas, Dimitri Paparas and Poonin in a 2006 raid on a warehouse in which about R250m worth of hashish was allegedly found. Stefanos Paparas later handed himself over to the police.

Lottman, Marques and Alblas all made plea bargains with the Scorpions that the unit hoped would put pressure on Agliotti, who was known as the “Landlord” and a key player in the syndicate.

Agliotti’s evidence was used to implicate and prosecute Selebi.

He agreed to turn state witness against the police commissioner in exchange for a lenient sentence on drug-trafficking charges and was acquitted of involvement in the murder of mining magnate Kebble.

He received a 10-year suspended sentence in exchange for his testimony against the Paparases and Poonin.

In the latter matter, judge Frans Kgomo said: “Everyone who testified for the state did not implicate the accused [Agliotti] in any wrongdoing, not even the shooters in the matter.”

Agliotti’s co-accused in that case, including Mikey Schultz, Nigel McGurk and Faizel Smith, who shot Kebble, received indemnity from prosecution after testifying against Agliotti.

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