Ractliffe found not guilty
2011-06-15 13:38
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Johannesburg
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Johannesburg - Former Nelson Mandela Children's Fund trustee Jeremy
Ractliffe was found not guilty on a charge of possession of uncut diamonds in
the Alexandra Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
"The court is [of the] opinion that the State has not proved its case.
Mr Ractliffe, you are not guilty of this charge," Magistrate Renier
Boshoff said.
International model Noami Campbell testified at The Hague war crimes
tribunal last year that she thought it was former Liberian president Charles
Taylor who had given her a bag of diamonds, which, it was argued were "blood
diamonds".
Campbell said she was given the uncut diamonds after a charity fund-raiser
in South Africa in 1997, also attended by Taylor.
She said she handed the stones to Ractliffe who was at the time chief
executive of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
He said at the time he took and kept three small uncut diamonds so that
Campbell would not get into trouble. Ractliffe handed the stones to the police
on the same day that Campbell testified at the war crimes tribunal.
- SAPA
