Cele and Sitole ‘beef’ continues ahead of Interpol summit

While the SA Police Service (Saps) and the minister of police on Thursday confirmed embattled national police commissioner General Khehla Sitole would next week be part of the SA delegation to the three-day Interpol summit in Turkey, a security expert has warned that it would be inappropriate for Police Minister Bheki Cele to represent Saps at the gathering.

Saps national spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo confirmed Sitole would be attending the summit and brushed off reports that the national police commissioner was suspended from his job.

“He has been invited and is not suspended. Issues raised about him being suspended should be referred to the Presidency,” said Naidoo.

The Presidency was not available for comment.

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Despite Sitole having been invited to the event, police department spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said it would be Cele, and not Sitole, leading the Saps delegation to the Interpol summit – something which did not sit well Institute for Security Studies senior researcher Dr Johan Burger.

“If it is a gathering of police chiefs or senior police officers, the normal practice would be for the invitee, Sitole, to nominate one of his deputies or another suitable senior officer (a general) to represent him, if he himself is unable to attend.

“If this is a police gathering, it seems completely inappropriate for the minister to represent the Saps,” said Burger.

“By going there and not allowing Sitole to nominate a replacement, could be interpreted as a vote of no-confidence in police management.”

‘Don’t let Turkey trick you’

Countries scheduled to attend the international policing body Interpol’s general assembly next week have been warned against being lobbied to support host Turkey’s attempts to abuse Interpol’s “Red notice” processes to pursue their opponents.

Sitole is to lead a delegation to the gathering, which starts on Tuesday in Istanbul.

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Universal Rights Association (URA) South Africa is one of the civil rights organisations which have warned that Interpol may be misused to extradite exiled opponents of Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to face prosecution.

URA, along with 63 other organisations, on Thursday reminded Interpol to “adhere to high moral standards and be aware of Erdogan regime’s immoral tricks”.

The organisations, including Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Italian Federation for Human Rights and the Arrested Lawyers’ Initiative staged demonstrations outside Turkish embassies in Europe to voice their opposition.

The US conservative think tank Heritage Foundation called on the US government, as the biggest funder of Interpol, to take steps to curtail transnational repression.