- JOHANNESBURG: Former South African police chief Jackie Selebi lost a court appeal Friday to overturn a 15-year prison sentence for accepting bribes from a convicted drug smuggler in a case that highlighted the reach of corruption in Africa's biggest economy.
Selebi is the most senior official associated with the ruling African National Congress to be found guilty of corruption.
South African Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Kenneth Mthiyane said in the televised decision of a panel of five judges that Selebi's appeal had been dismissed.
Selebi collapsed after hearing the outcome of the appeal and needed medical attention, his lawyer Wynanda Coetzee told SAPA news agency.
"He is not doing well. We are very worried ... he can't walk," she was quoted as saying by SAPA.
The former national police commissioner had 48 hours to report to prison authorities, South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority said.
During his trial, the court heard that known drug dealer Glenn Agliotti paid 1.2 million rand ($148,300) to Selebi, who was also president of the international police agency Interpol at the time, to turn a blind eye to his activities.
"In my view, the appellant must have realized that Agliotti's generosity and the payments he received from him created a dynamic, whereby he, in his post as head of the nation's police service, would be indebted to him and would have to remain willing to do him favors," the appeals court judgment said.
