FORMER president Thabo Mbeki says he suspended Advocate Vusi Pikoli after Pikoli insisted on arresting former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi.
In his weekly letter, Mbeki wrote that he tried to convince Pikoli not to arrest Selebi at a meeting attended by his then adviser, Reverend Frank Chikane, but failed.
At the time, relations between the police and the National Director of Public Prosecutions were very tense and Mbeki was fearful that arresting Selebi would lead to violence.
He said he explained to Pikoli that he had a duty to protect national security as president of the country. However, Pikoli remained determined and said he had a constitutional duty to arrest Selebi.
Mbeki said he asked Pikoli to give him two weeks to talk to Selebi and make sure the arrest would not harm national security.
“Pikoli rejected this proposal and refused all persuasion, insisting he had a legal right and a duty to execute warrants within one week. After a lengthy discussion, I told Pikoli that given his absolute refusal to postpone the arrest by one week, the only recourse I had to stop him from acting in a manner which would threaten national security was to suspend him,” Mbeki wrote.
Mbeki said they parted with no evidence of bad feeling among them.
In response to the letter, Pikoli said he holds Mbeki in high esteem and would not want to be drawn into the matter but said he stood by what he wrote in his book, My Second Initiation.
