Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
AMNESTY HEARING - PRETORIA (25 to 29 January 1999)
A former captain in the Security Branch of the South African Police will appear before the Amnesty Committee of the TRC in Pretoria next week, applying for amnesty for the murder of his wife whom he claims he killed in order to silence her, as she was about to spill the beans about his illegal activities and also threatening to make public information that would compromise the SAP.
Michael Bellingan will appear before a three-member amnesty panel applying for the murder of his wife and mother of his two children, Mrs Janine Bellingan, whose body was found at their home in Gallo Manor near Sandton. She had been strangled and bludgeoned to death on September 21, 1991. A break-in had been simulated to create the impression that she was killed by robbers.
Her husband was subsequently arrested and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in March 1995 after a sensational trial that attracted a lot of media interest at the time. He is presently serving his sentence at the Johannesburg Maximum Prison.
Bellingan's hearing will be at the Idasa Centre in Prinsloo Street in Pretoria. the hearing is scheduled for a week, from Monday January 25 to Friday January 29.
In his application Bellingan admits to killing his wife saying that she was about to expose, among other things, an elaborate scam in which he was involved in with other senior police officers in which they intercepted large sums of money intended for the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA). He claims they stole the money with the help of their contacts at a prominent bank.
Bellingan has also applied for amnesty for a variety of other offences, including arson, housebreaking, blackmail, perjury and invasion of privacy. For more details contact TRC Media Director, MDU LEMBEDE on 082 458 8464
18 January 1999