20100803
allAfrica

South Africa's former national police chief, Jackie Selebi, has been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for corruption.

Selebi, also a former president of Interpol, the organization which facilitates international police co-operation, is the most senior veteran of the African National Congress's struggle for liberation to be convicted of corruption. The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg found him guilty of taking bribes from a drug smuggler.

The South African Press Association reported that after being sentenced on Tuesday, Selebi was released on bail pending an appeal. South African news websites quoted the judge, Meyer Joffe, as saying Selebi had failed to show remorse, lied and manufactured evidence and embarrassed the police.

"There are no substantial or compelling circumstances which justify the imposition of a lesser sentence," the judge was quoted as saying.