Biko: 'Killers' not prosecuted

2003-10-07 20:31

Johannesburg - The five policemen who were accused of killing anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in 1977 will not be prosecuted, justice ministry officials said on Tuesday.

The unit found that there was insufficient evidence, in part because there were no eyewitnesses to the killing, to support a murder charge.

Charges of culpable homicide and assault were also considered, but because the killing of the black consciousness movement leader occurred in 1977, the time frame for prosecution had lapsed.

"We can only prosecute if there is sufficient evidence to justify the charge, but there is not enough evidence ... If at a later stage new evidence emerged that cleared the problems we've had, we would reconsider our decision. With a matter like this, we can't leave it hanging, we must have finality," said Chris MacAdam, a lawyer for the National Prosecuting Authority.

Amnesty

In 1999, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was formed to help heal apartheid's emotional and psychological wounds, denied amnesty to the five men.

To qualify for amnesty under the TRC, applicants had to prove a political motive for their crimes and tell the commission the full truth of their activities.

All five said Biko tried to attack one of his interrogators while in custody in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth. They said they tackled the 30-year-old Biko and accidentally slammed his head against a wall.

An unresponsive Biko remained chained to a metal gate in a standing position for two days while police waited to see if they could continue the interrogation.

Eventually, he was taken in a police van, naked and bleeding, on a 1 200km trip to a prison in Pretoria, where he died of brain injuries on September 12, 1977.

Biko's message of black pride in the mid-1970s appealed to many young people in townships and his death made him a martyr in the struggle against apartheid.

The case sparked an outcry at home and abroad and spurred activism that contributed to the end of white-minority rule, also inspiring the movie "Cry Freedom," with Denzel Washington.

- AP