Convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti painted himself as an innocent victim in a political game to bring down former top cop Jackie Selebi in a video recording seen in court on Thursday.

"I just feel where's the justice?" he asks at one stage in footage viewed in the High Court in Johannesburg as evidence in the corruption trial of Selebi.

"It's a political game and unfortunately I got caught up in the middle. They f**ked up my life. My business. My relationship."

Agliotti said the Scorpions admitted as much to him:

"They said Glenn, unfortunately you got involved in the middle of a political game. I said 'F**k off, so you are telling me because I was associated with the national commissioner as a friend'."

At a later stage, he says simply: "I'm a nobody."

The approximately hour-long recording, made in a Sandton hotel room on January 7, 2008, shows Agliotti, police commissioner Mulangi Mphego and the National Intelligence Agency's Arthur Fraser discussing the investigation into Selebi. Agliotti, dressed in a cream shirt, talks confidently and assertively as he sits in a chair in front of a light curtain.

The footage frames him as a small figure at the bottom of the screen amidst shadows and light created by the sun shining through the room's window.

He says the plot against Selebi was a political conspiracy so that the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) — or Scorpions — would not be incorporated into the SA Police Service.

"The whole thing is to bring down Selebi and it's a politically-driven thing. They [the DSO] don't want to go back to the police. They want to be a separate entity," he says in the video.

Agliotti said Selebi did not deserve to be criminally charged.

"Selebi did not deserve to go through all the bad publicity that he did, irrespective of him being a friend of mine. You know he has never contacted me. Selebi's never tried to influence anything."

He described the Scorpions as "a law unto themselves".

"It is important enough for people to be aware of what's going on and I'm talking about the powers that be, the necessary and relevant authorities."

"It's sickening to listen to this"

After court adjourned until Friday, Selebi, dressed in a cream suit and red tie, told reporters: "It's sickening to listen to this."

Asked if he could ever see himself resuming his friendship with Agliotti, he remarked, "Friends, oh!" before turning away in apparent disgust.

Agliotti told the court previously he had agreed to the filming on the understanding it was off the record and purely for intelligence gathering purposes.

Judge Meyer Joffe ruled on Thursday the video tape evidence was provisionally admitted and consequently it was viewed in court.

Selebi is facing two counts of corruption and defeating the ends of justice related to payments of at least R1.2-million he allegedly received from Agliotti, slain mining magnate Brett Kebble and ex-Hyundai boss Billy Rautenbach.

Agliotti has made a deal with the State in the Selebi case and will receive indemnity from prosecution on charges including corruption, money laundering, racketeering and defeating the ends of justice if he testifies "frankly and honestly".

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