Cele's defamation case dismissed
2013-02-19 19:28
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Cape Town - Former police commissioner Bheki Cele's
defamation lawsuit against the Sowetan has been dismissed, the newspaper
reported on Tuesday.
It said Cele had taken issue with two news reports and an
altered photograph, showing him clutching a firearm, which it published in
2007.
In the reports, Cele was quoted as telling a business
gathering in KwaZulu-Natal that police should "shoot to kill"
criminals when threatened.
The second report stated that eight criminals had been
killed less than 10 days after he allegedly made the "shoot to kill
remarks".
Cele had argued in the South Gauteng High Court in
Johannesburg that he did not instruct members of the SAPS to "shoot to
kill".
However, he agreed in his testimony to using the terms
"aim for the head" and "use deadly force".
According to the report, Cele submitted that members of
the public might have interpreted the articles to mean that the deaths of the
people mentioned were as a result of his statements.
The court concluded on Thursday that the statements Cele
had admitted to making were the equivalent of "shoot to kill".
"This certainly makes it more probable than not that
the plaintiff made the statement 'shoot to kill'," the court reportedly
said in its ruling.
Regarding the altered photograph, the court ruled that
any reasonable person would have plainly seen the image had been altered.
- SAPA
