Release Pikoli report - FXI

2008-11-12 18:06

Cape Town - The Freedom of Expression Institute has called on President Kgalema Motlanthe to make public the Ginwala Commission's report on suspended prosecutions head Vusi Pikoli.

In a statement on Wednesday, the institute said it had written to the president asking him "to make the... report on the fitness of advocate Pikoli to hold [the] office of National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) available to the public by Friday".

Pikoli was suspended from his post last September. On Monday this week, a spokesperson for the Ginwala Commission said it was up to the president to decide what to do with the report. The commission submitted the report to Mothlanthe last week.

The FXI said the public had a constitutional right to see it.

"In fact, the suppression of this information will inevitability lead to an increased climate of distrust and speculation about the probity of the actions of the former president [Thabo Mbeki] in suspending advocate Pikoli, as well as those of the [Justice] Minister [Brigitte Mabandla] and even advocate Pikoli himself.

"Only by allowing the public to interact directly with the report will public confidence in the enquiry be maintained.

"In view of the fact that the hearings were held in the open, there are no obvious compelling reasons for the report to be withheld from the public.

"If there are sections of the report that need to be withheld for legitimate reasons, then these should be excised from the report, but should not be used as a reason to withhold the entire report," it said.

Failure to release the report "would constitute a gross infringement of the public's rights and a total disregard of the State's obligation to respect, protect and promote the rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights", the FXI said.

- SAPA