Chippy Shaik, the former head of the government's arms procurement,
is not on the run.
That was the word from his brother, Yunus.
On
Tuesday he criticised political opponents for "victimising" his
family.
Brothers Yunus, Mo, Schabir and Chippy were all involved in the
ANC during the anti-apartheid struggle.
'Facts are presented in the
media that Chippy has fled'
Schabir is in prison for fraud relating
to his relationship with presidential hopeful Jacob Zuma. This week in
Johannesburg, his lawyers will be arguing for leave to appeal against his
conviction in the Constitutional Court.
Yunus questioned whether the
controversy around Chippy's allegedly plagiarised degree and the transfer of
Schabir from a Durban hospital back to the Westville Prison infirmary was
designed to put pressure on the family before the court hearing.
"The
only conclusion is that the entire episode is to cause maximum prejudice ahead
of the Constitutional Court case, and is calculated to entrench in the minds of
the public that there is corruption," he said.
Yunus Shaik said that his
brother Chippy was not on the run after reports that he had received a R21-million bribe arising from the arms deal. "Facts are
presented in the media that Chippy has fled. Where to and from who? The
Scorpions haven't even phoned him to say, 'We'd like to talk to you'.
"As
a family, we are not hiding anything," said Shaik.
"Should people be
abused because they are perceived to be on the wrong side of a political line?
I'm sorry, maybe I'm just losing perspective here."
This article was
originally published on page 3 of The
Mercury on May 23, 2007
With acknowledgements to Greg Arde and Independent Online.