DECISION
In this matter the applicant applies for amnesty in respect of an incident which occurred during November 1985 at Daveyton and for which he was charged with assault and was, on 04 December 1985, convicted as charged and sentenced to seven strokes with a light cane.
At the time of the incident the applicant was a 17 year old minor. He was a supporter of the Daveyton Youth Congress and the Daveyton Student's Congress. He states in his application that during late November 1985 he was one of a group of youths that was shot at by a policeman. One of the youths was killed and another was seriously injured as a result of the shooting. He and the other youths in the group took the deceased and the injured youth to a nearby house. The police arrived at the house and arrested the applicant and his companions. During the arrest a scuffle broke out and the applicant punched a policeman. The assault upon the policeman was of a minor nature and the policeman received no injuries as a result thereof.
The applicant also states that he was justified in resisting his arrest and punching the policeman. He contends that during that period the police were regarded as enemies and it was the policy of the political organisations of which he was a member not to co-operate with the police.
This application for amnesty is not opposed as the policeman who was punched by the applicant cannot be traced due to the fact that the applicant cannot recall his name and the record of the trial proceedings which took place in the Benono Magistrate's Court has been destroyed.
Although this matter was set down for hearing, it is clear that it can be disposed of in terms of Section 19(3)(b) of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No 34 of 1995 (hereafter referred to as "the Act" as:
i. The assault upon the policeman did not constitute a gross violation of human rights as defined on Section 1 of the Act; and
ii. there is no basis for finding that the applicant has not made a full disclosure of all relevant facts and the matter is therefore dealt with on the basis that he has made such a disclosure; and
iii. the offence to which the application relates was,in our view, an act associated with a political objective committed in the course of the conflicts of the past, being in accordance with the criteria set out in sections 20 (2)(a), (d) and (f) read with sections 20 (3)(a), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of the Act. And
iv. the application complies with the requirements of the Act.
We are accordingly of the opinion that the application succeeds. In the result, the applicant is
GRANTED: amnesty in respect of the assault committed by himself on an unknown policeman at Daveyton during November 1985 for which he was convicted and sentenced to seven strokes with a light cans on 04 December 1985.
SIGNED ON THIS THE 3RD DAY OF APRIL 1998.
JUDGE S MILLER
MR J MOLOI
ADV. FJ BOSMAN
