Johannesburg - ‘Don’t buy Glenn Agliotti’s book.” This is the plea from Paul O’Sullivan, the crime-fighting investigator who helped bring down convicted top cop and former Agliotti ally Jackie Selebi.
“Anyone buying this book is buying a work of fiction and donating cash to the underworld at the same time,” said O’Sullivan in a letter to The Star.
“When criminals start making money out of telling their lies in public, the country is on a very slippery slope indeed,” he added.
Last Friday, Agliotti launched his book about turning against his former friend Selebi and being accused of orchestrating the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.
“Having been shot three times while serving as a police officer on our streets, I certainly do not approve of anyone making money (by) writing a book to brag about their crimes,” O’Sullivan said.
Agliotti’s book was written by former Playboy South Africa editor Peter Piegl and slain Teazers boss Lolly Jackson’s spokesman, Sean Newman.
“When a convicted thief writes a book for and about a convicted drug trafficker, assisted by an ex-girly magazine editor, it’s unlikely they will allow the truth to stand in the way of a good story,” said O’Sullivan.
Speaking to The Star ahead of the book’s launch on Friday, Agliotti said he felt no remorse in turning on Selebi by testifying about his corrupt activities.
Agliotti added that he and his family “went through hell” while being investigated by the now-defunct priority crime unit the Scorpions.
But O’Sullivan had no sympathy for this story.
“Now we have this thug, who just could not wait to rat on his friends, trying to make a quick buck out of trying to make us think he was the ‘victim’,” said the e-mail authored by O’Sullivan.
“Many fine men and women from our security services make the ultimate sacrifice each year in putting thugs like these behind bars.
“I beg all South Africans, work together to fight crime, show Agliotti and his accomplices that we do not support him, by shunning him and this book,” he pleaded.
The Star
10am 19 June 2013: Comments on this article have been removed for legal reasons.