- Little Rivonia Trial
The Little Rivonia Trial was a
South Africa napartheid -era court case in which several members of the armed resistance groupUmkhonto we Sizwe faced charges ofsabotage . The accused were:Laloo Chiba , Dave Kitson,Mac Maharaj , John Matthews andWilton Mkwayi . A confederate of theirs,Lionel Gay turned state witness, and in return, the prosecution dropped the charges against him. [cite book | last =O'Malley | first =Padraig | title =Shades of difference. Mac Maharaj and the struggle for South Africa | publisher =Viking | date =2007 | location =New York | pages =137-146]Judge W.G. Boshoff presided over the November 1964 trial, with human rights lawyer
George Bizos one of the advocates appearing for the defence. All the accused were found guilty. Maharaj's legal representatives were expecting that he would receive thedeath penalty for his Central Committee membership of theSouth African Communist Party . During the sentencing phase Mkwayi would simply say in his defence: "My Lord, I am a professional agitator". [cite book | last =O'Malley | first =Padraig | title =Shades of difference. Mac Maharaj and the struggle for South Africa | publisher =Viking | date =2007 | location =New York | pages =146] [Citation | last =Trewhela | first =Paul | title =Obituary: Wilton Mkwayi | newspaper =Independent, The (London) | pages = | year =2004 | date =Jul 29, 2004 | url =http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040729/ai_n12804309 ] Mkwayi received a life sentence; Kitson twenty years; Chiba eighteen years; Matthews fifteen years and Maharaj twelve years. [cite paper | author =Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa | title =Report, Volume 3 | publisher = | date = | url =http://www.stanford.edu/class/history48q/Documents/EMBARGO/3chap6.htm | format =html | accessdate =2007-06-01] While Kitson and Matthews (both white), were imprisoned in Pretoria, Mkwayi, Maharaj and Chiba joinedNelson Mandela and other prominentAfrican National Congress members for hard labour at the famousRobben Island quarry. [cite book | last =Mandela | first =Nelson | title =Long walk to freedom. The autobiography of Nelson Mandela | publisher =Macdonald Purnell | date =1994 | location =Randburg, South Africa | pages =393]ee also
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Rivonia Trial
*Treason Trial References
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