Drugs accused off the hook

"Ridiculously lenient plea bargains" made by the now disbanded Scorpions in the prosecution of former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi have dealt the state another blow.

Three alleged drug dealers were acquitted yesterday on the grounds that the evidence against them might be unreliable.

Stefanos Paparas, 45, his father Dimitri, 74, and their driver, Stanley Poonin, were acquitted of drug dealing in a surprise judgment in the Germiston Magistrate's Court.

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

Lottman was arrested with Pedro Marques, Christiaan Alblas, Dimitri Paparas and Poonin in a raid in 2006 on a warehouse in which about R250-million 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 was the key player in the syndicate.

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

Agliotti agreed to turn state witness against Selebi in exchange for a lenient sentence on the drug trafficking charges.

He was acquitted in November of involvement in the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.

At the time, Judge Frans Kgomo said: "Everyone who testified for the state did not implicate the accused [Agliotti] in any wrong doing, not even the shooters in the matter".

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

Advocate Sita Kolbe, who represented Paparas, said the judgment was a surprise because the trial was not set down for judgment.

She said the magistrate was scathing about the Scorpions for bungling the investigation.

"He [the magistrate] said the witnesses all had reason to lie as they got such wonderful deals from the state," said Kolbe.

The magistrate found that there was no record of the chain of custody of the hashish that was used by the Scorpion's mole, Anthony Dormehl, to trap Lottman in a trade on July 5 2006.

The Times reported last year that Kolbe had grilled one of the state witnesses, Dr Marnus Lourens, saying his laboratory was unaccredited at the time he tested the drugs involved in the shipment.

Lourens admitted that his "lab was very young" but defended his credentials.

The National Prosecuting Authority's spokesman, Mthunzi Mhaga, said yesterday: "We are disappointed with any acquittal.

"We'll study the judgment, reflect on all issues raised by the magistrate and decide on the legal avenue to explore."