Gideon Nieuwoudt fully disclosed his role in the 1989 Motherwell bombing, his counsel said in closing arguments of his amnesty application in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Monday.
The former security policeman’s actions were politically motivated, and the orders to kill had been in the interests of national security, his lawyer said, according to the South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news.
He said Nieuwoudt and co-accused Wahl du Toit and Marthinus Ras should therefore be granted amnesty in the interests of reconciliation.
The closing arguments in re-application for amnesty started on Monday, after a delay of almost two months.
When they are over, the committee will set a date for judgement.
”When it comes to judgement that lies with the bench or the committee and they may decide not to give judgement tomorrow… they may say the matter is postponed for one or two weeks,” said evidence leader Moketedi Mpshe.
Nieuwoudt, Du Toit and Ras face jail sentences of 20, 15, and 10 years respectively if amnesty is not granted for their killing of three policemen and an askari in Motherwell on December 14, 1989.
This is Nieuwoudt’s second bid for amnesty for his role in the Motherwell bombing, and he asserts that the policemen were killed because they had threatened to defect to the ANC.
However, former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock has testified that they were killed because they ”knew too much” about the earlier murder of activist Matthew Goniwe.
On Monday, advocate Jaap Cillier said De Kock could not support his client’s evidence because De Kock had not been in Port Elizabeth at the time of the bombing. – Sapa