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Cape Town - An application for absolution has been refused in the mammoth trial focusing on the policeman former president Nelson Mandela hand-picked to head an elite investigative unit.
Western Cape High Court Judge Judith Cloete on Tuesday denied the police minister's application.
Major-General Andre Lincoln is claiming R15m in damages from the minister of safety and security (now minister of police) for alleged malicious prosecution.
In 1996, Mandela tasked Lincoln with leading a presidential investigative task unit to probe Cape Town-based Italian mafioso Vito Palazzolo and his links to government officials, police, and businessmen.
Lincoln was arrested in 1998, after criminal allegations were levelled against him and his colleagues in the unit.
In November 2002, he was convicted on 17 of 47 charges against him. In 2009, he successfully appealed the convictions.
He believes he was "maliciously prosecuted" because of his direct access to Mandela and investigations into senior policemen.
The case resumes later on Tuesday.
