20100906
reuters

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's former police chief Jackie Selebi can appeal his conviction for taking a bribe from a drug kingpin, a judge ruled on Monday.

A onetime star in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party and a former president of international police body Interpol, Selebi was found guilty of receiving bribes from a drug dealer in July.

"Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal is granted to the accused on the issue of whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused received payment," High Court Judge Meyer Joffe said.

The South African Press Association quoted Selebi's lawyer, Wynanda Coetzee, as saying after the ruling that if the appeal court found in his favour the graft conviction and 15 year sentence could be quashed.

Joffe said in his decision in July that Selebi had received at least 120,000 rand from Glenn Agliotti, a convicted drug trafficker who was one of the main prosecution witnesses.

Selebi was a close ally of former President Thabo Mbeki who left office about two years ago.

His conviction has been hailed by commentators as a positive development in South Africa's struggle with graft, which is seen as a drain on the continent's biggest economy.