Sapa-Ap Policeman Denied Amnesty in Biko Killing
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa January 9 1999 - SAPA-AP POLICEMAN DENIED AMNESTY IN BIKO KILLING A policeman has been denied amnesty in the killing of black liberation leader Steve Biko, making him liable for possible criminal charges in a case that shocked the world and hastened the end of apartheid, sources said Saturday. Former Detective Sgt. Gideon Nieuwoudt was denied amnesty because he and four other officers, who are also applying for amnesty in the 1977 beating death of Biko, did not admit to any crime, said George Bizos, an attorney representing the Biko family. The five officers testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission last year that Biko, despite being outnumbered and exhausted after weeks of incarceration, tried to attack one of his interrogators while in custody in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth. The officers say they tackled the 30-year-old Biko, accidently slamming his head against a wall. He was then taken in a police van, naked and bleeding, on a 750-mile (1,200-kilometer) ride to a prison in Pretoria, where he died of massive brain injuries on Sept. 12, 1977. "They did not admit they committed a crime," izos tod The Associated Press. "By their own story they would not be entitled to amnesty." Only those who fully confess to politically motivated crimes committed during apartheid are eligible for amnesty. The ruling by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee was made on Dec. 15, but has not been made public because it came as the Christmas holidays began. Truth Commission spokesman Mdu Lembede, in a telephone interview, confirmed Nieuwoudt was denied amnesty. Lembede said he would not have any details until Monday, when the Truth Commission's offices reopen. Lembede said rulings in the amnesty applications of the four other policemen have not been made yet. Bizos said the amnesty committee's ruling left Nieuwoudt open for possible criminal prosecution. "For murder, there is no statute of limitations," Bizos said in a telephone interview. However, Nieuwoudt would apparently be free from facing charges of manslaughter or culpable homicide, for which the statute of limitations is 20 years, according to Bizos. It would be up to the attorney general of Eastern Cape province, where Port Elizabeth is located, to decide whether to initiate criminal proceedings, Bizos said. The attorney general's offices were closed and no one was immediately available to comment. Nieuwoudt's attorney, Francois Van Der Merwe, expressed confidence nothing more would come of the case. "I doubt whether any civil or criminal procedures will emanate from this," he told South African Broadcasting Corp. television. In the mid-1970s, Biko was a leading black figure, with a message of black pride that especially appealed to township youths oppressed by white rule. His death sparked an outcry at home and abroad, spurring activism that eventually contributed to the end of apartheid. It also inspired the movie "Cry Freedom," with Denzel Washington portraying Biko. © South African Press Association, 1999 This text is for information only and may not be published or reprinted without the permission of the South African Press Association JERUSALEM January 9 1999 - SAPA-AP ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS CAN ACHIEVE RECONCILIATION:TUTU South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Saturday that Israel and the Palestinians can achieve reconciliation if their leaders are prepared to take risks. Tutu, who received the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his 30 year struggle against the apartheid regime in his native South Africa, was speaking at Jerusalem's Yakar Institute for Social Concern. He told the gathering that many people had said the regime of discrimination aginst no-whites could not be overthrown without a bloodbath, yet the peoples of South Africa had done it, and achieved reconciliation. "So if it could happen to us it can happen anywhere." he said. "Can anyone tell me why it cannot happen here?" However this could only be achieved if leaders on both sides are prepared to take risks, he said, to face the truth and to say they are sorry. Welcoming the Archbishop, the institute's director Benjamin Pogrund described him as "a moral compass." © South African Press Association, 1999 This text is for information only and may not be published or reprinted without the permission of the South African Press Association JOHANNESBURG January 11 1999 - SAPA-AP POLICE MAY FACE MURDER CHARGES IN KILLING OF STEVE BIKO A top prosecutor said Monday that policemen who killed anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko might be tried for murder in a case that stunned the world and fueled resistance to white rule. Such a trial would be a landmark event in South Africa, whose post-apartheid government created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to expose apartheid's horrors and to offer amnesty to those who fully confessed to politically motivated abuses. Five police officers sought amnesty in the 1977 beating death of Biko but denied any wrongdoing, testifying that he hit his head against a wall in a struggle during interrogation. The Truth Commission announced Monday it denied amnesty to one of the former policemen, Col. Gideon Nieuwoudt. The decision - first reported by The Associated Press on Saturday - leaves the state with the option of charging Nieuwoudt with murder in Biko's death. Les Roberts, attorney general for Eastern Cape province where Biko suffered the fatal beating, told the AP he would wait for the Truth Commission's rulings on the amnesty applications of the remaining three former officers before deciding whether to prosecute. The fifth amnesty applicant, Col. Harold Snyman, died of cancer last year. "I don't want to do this piecemeal - I want the whole picture," Roberts said in a telephone interview. If all four former officers are denied amnesty - as appeared likely since their testimony was virtually identical - Roberts said he might offer leniency to one or more of the men in exchange for them testifying against the others. There is no statute of limitations on murder. A person could be charged with murder even when a killing was not the ultimate goal of an action - for example a severe beating - but was a foreseeable possible consequence, according to Roberts. Truth Commission spokesman Mdu Lembede said he didn't know when the commission would rule in the remaining amnesty applications. Biko's son Nkosinathi welcomed the Truth Commission's decision on Nieuwoudt because it leaves him open to murder charges. Nkosinathi Biko said he believed the policemen lied about Biko's death. "He had bruises all over his body, his rib cage, his left eye and a number of lesions on the brain," he told the South African Press Association. Nieuwoudt was denied amnesty because he and the other officers did not admit to any crime, noted George Bizos, the Biko family's attorney. "If this comes to trial, it would be a most significant vindication of the amnesty process," Bizos told the AP. "Amnesty is not there for the asking. There are certain legal requirements: That you should tell the truth about what happened, where the orders came from, there shud be full disclosure." Bizos said he also believed the policemen lied about Biko's death, saying the injuries were inconsistent with their story. The officers testified the 30-year-old black consciousness leader tried to attack one of his interrogators while in custody in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth. They testified that they tackled Biko, accidently slamming his head against a wall. Biko was then taken in a police van, naked and bleeding, on a 750-mile (1,200-kilometer) ride to a prison in Pretoria, where he died of massive brain injuries on Sept. 12, 1977. Biko's death sparked an outcry at home and abroad, spurring activism that eventually contributed to the end of apartheid. It also inspired the movie "Cry Freedom," with Denzel Washington portraying Biko, and the song "Biko" by Peter Gabriel. © South African Press Association, 1999 This text is for information only and may not be published or reprinted without the permission of the South African Press Association JOHANNESBURG January 12 1999 - SAPA UPCOMING AMNESTY APPLICATION FOR BOIPATONG PERPETRATORS The Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Tuesday announced that 13 Inkatha Freedom Party members would next week appear before the amnesty committee for their role in the attack on Boipatong residents in 1990. On the evening of June 17, about 200 men from Kwamadala hostel, armed with automatic rifles and other weapons, attacked the Boipatong township in the Vaal Triangle. Residents were hacked, stabbed, shot, beaten and disembowelled. The Boipatong massacre, in which 46 people lost their lives, nearly destroyed peace negotiations between former National Party leader FW de Klerk and the African National Congress. The partly-heard amnesty applications will be heard over a two week period from January 18 to 29 at the Iscor Recreational Club in Vanderbijlpark. The hearing was first heard on July 6, 1998, at the Sebokeng College of Education. The applications of Victor Mthandeni Mthembu, Vincent Khanyile, Mhlupheki Shabangu and Jack Mbele were earlier heard from July 6 to 14 and from August 11 to 14, 1998. During this time, the application of Andries Nosenga was introduced to the panel. Zuko Mapoma will lead evidence during the hearing. © South African Press Association, 1999 This text is for information only and may not be published or reprinted without the permission of the South African Press Association JOHANNESBURG January 12 1999 - SAPA TRC GIVES AMNESTY TO 18 AND REFUSES IT TO FIVE Eighteen 18 people across the political spectrum have been given amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and five were turned down. The TRC said in a statement on Tuesday the 23 were applying for amnesty for crimes committed shortly before the 1994 elections.