Cape Town - Paul O’Sullivan, the most famous whistleblower in the country, was arrested this weekend, apparently for alleged immigration offences but his lawyers claim the real reason was he had been probing several top police officers.
The controversial forensic consultant had been reportedly poised to expose his findings.
The legal team acting for O’Sullivan was on Saturday night desperately trying to find out what was happening to him following his arrest at OR Tambo International Airport on Friday night.
“We are very concerned for his safety,” one of his legal representatives, who did not want to be named, told Weekend Argus.
“The Hawks are moving him. They are allowed to move him if they tell his lawyers where. They haven’t. None of us have slept for two days.”
Late Saturday night, the legal representative said, they had heard where O’Sullivan possibly was and staff were on their way there, but they were not sure what state he was in.
O’Sullivan, 60, who according to his lawyers was arrested by more than a dozen Hawks officers after he’d boarded a plane bound for the UK, is expected to appear in court in Pretoria on Monday.
In a statement his legal team, Darryl Furman and Associates, said: “It is common cause that our client has opened criminal dockets against many very senior police officers, including the acting commissioner of police, the head of the Hawks and the erstwhile divisional commissioner for detective services…
“The police officials under investigation as a result of our client have seized an opportunity to make a Hollywood-style show-arrest as part of a clear campaign of retaliation and vilification.”
On Saturday night Home Affairs Department spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete confirmed O’Sullivan had been arrested by members of the Hawks. “They say it’s a violation of immigration affairs.”
Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi’s cellphone appeared to be switched off last night and he did not respond to an SMS query.
Private investigator Mike Bolhuis took to Twitter, saying O’Sullivan was being detained at the Pretoria Central Police Station.
“Paul O’Sullivan was in possession of three different passports making it almost impossible to track him. He was busy leaving the country,” Bolhuis said.
O’Sullivan’s lawyers said their client was arrested at 8pm on an SAA flight to London.
Two of his children had been with him as they were returning to the UK because they went to school there.
“A 15-man team of the Hawks carried out the arrest in front of his small children and Mr O’Sullivan was cuffed and driven in a blue light convoy at high speed to Pretoria Central Police Station,” it said.
He was apparently told he was being charged under a section of the SA Citizenship Act.
The statement by O’Sullivan’s legal team said:
“Our client was merely taking his children back to school and was due to return to SA next Thursday.”
The statement said the police officers involved in O’Sullivan’s “arrest and detention on trumped- up charges” included some of the officers who “unlawfully raided our client’s offices” in April last year.
“Our client is bemused by the fact that with the high levels of crime in South Africa the Hawks can dedicate a whole task team for a year now, trying to dig up anything on our client.”
O’Sullivan started making news headlines more than a decade ago. The statement said it was known O’Sullivan had been instrumental in “bringing down” former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi. In 2010 Selebi was sentenced to 15 years in jail for corruption. He was later released on medical parole and died early last year.
O’Sullivan reportedly dedicated more than 10 years to probing Selebi.
He was also linked to the complex probe into Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir. In August, Krejcir was convicted on charges including kidnapping and attempted murder. He was sentenced to 35 years.
The statement by O’Sullivan’s legal team said earlier this year O’Sullivan had provided credible information about Krejcir’s attempt to escape from jail. “As a result of this, he received further credible information of an imminent attempt to murder him.”
In September a daily newspaper reported O’Sullivan had vowed to kill Krejcir within a day if he escaped.
Weeekend Argus
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