Phone records indicate Nassif was lying

Telephone records by the State's seventh witness in the trial of Brett Kebble murder accused Glenn Agliotti provided further evidence security boss Clinton Nassif had lied. Details of phone calls between people said to be involved in the "assisted suicide" of mining magnate Kebble were presented to the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday by State witness Petro Heyneke, Vodacom's forensic liaison manager.

Nassif, a section 204 witness for the State, and Kebble's former head of security, told the court last week he was asleep the night of Kebble's murder on September 27, 2005. But telephone records show he made a number of calls between 8.45pm and 9.51pm that night. There was then a gap between phone calls until 11.06pm, when he called his business partner Stephen Sanders. He then called Agliotti.

Prosecutor Lethabo Mashiane asked Heyneke to explain certain calls made by Nassif to Agliotti and vice versa. The records merely indicate the duration of the calls and the approximate location of the cellphone used to make the call. It provides no information on who was speaking or what was said. Agliotti's lawyer Laurance Hodes SC pointed out that the many calls made between Agliotti and Nassif indicated they were not together - if contact was initiated by a phone call. He put it to Heyneke that police requested the records of "40, maybe 50 or even 60" telephone numbers from Vodacom through a subpoena. He asked her whether it "surprised" her that Agliotti's attorney, Robert Kanarek's number was among those police required records for. She replied it was "possible". He then charged that the State, via the subpoena, could gain access to information to "which they are not entitled". Heyneke could not comment on this.

Judge Frans Kgomo asked Heyneke whether Vodacom would provide the president's cellphone records, for example, if requested via a subpoena. She said it was possible as the company did not scrutinise who the number belonged to when providing the records. Heyneke also referred to calls made from Nassif's number to self-confessed Kebble hitmen, boxer Mikey Schultz and Nigel McGurk. Heyneke, prompted by Mashiane, detailed the times of the calls, their duration and approximate location.

After a slight delay caused by the public sector strike, the third week of Agliotti's trial resumed on Tuesday. The stenographer was apparently participating in the strike, but a replacement was found by 11am. "Where are my notes, are they also gone on strike?" quipped Kgomo when he sat down to hear evidence after the morning tea break. Last week Kgomo denied the defence a postponement. Hodes had wanted to halt the trial to approach the National Prosecuting Authority to have the charges against Agliotti withdrawn.

Agliotti is facing four charges, two of conspiracy to commit murder, one of attempted murder and another of murder. The murder charge and one of the conspiracy counts relate to Kebble's murder. He was shot several times in his car in Melrose, Johannesburg. Kgomo adjourned the matter early, and the court building was largely empty by 3pm. The trial continues.

Source: IoL