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POLICE BRUTALITY, “FAKE news” propaganda and official cover-ups at the height of apartheid have been laid bare in a South African court probing the death of a communist activist 46 years ago.
Ahmed Timol, a 29-year-old anti-apartheid volunteer, was arrested in Johannesburg in October 1971 and after five days in detention he died after plummeting from the city’s police headquarters.
Officers at the time said he died by suicide – a verdict endorsed by an inquest – but his family fought the ruling and campaigned hard to secure a review that finally began on 26 June.
A former officer in the feared security branch which held Timol and was involved in sabotaging anti-apartheid groups, has spoken out about his squad’s brutal techniques in court.
“(I saw) a man’s testicles being crushed like pepper,” said Paul Erasmus, now 61, who joined the unit after Timol’s death.
Electric shocks were used very widely… as all the detectives had little shock machines (adapted) from the old telephone system.
Officers referred to the boxes as Radio Moscow because of the leftist leanings of many of the detainees, he said.
‘Physical assault in custody’
Pathologist Shakeera Holland told the hearing in Pretoria that Timol’s body, including his face, was covered in bruises and scratches.
“Most of the bruises… were not consistent with a fall from a height,” said Holland. “(He) sustained physical assault while in police custody.”
Erasmus told AFP he had personally beaten several detainees during his career.
Significantly for Timol’s family, who are convinced he was pushed from the 10th floor window, Erasmus revealed that a brigadier known as “the sweeper” was responsible for covering up police crimes.
“They’d sweep up the bits and sort it out,” said Erasmus, who kept diaries of his 17 year-long service and admitted he was attracted to the work by “the James Bond secret agent thing”.
Stephanie Kemp, a communist anti-apartheid fighter, told the court that one of the party’s pamphlets appeared to have been doctored following Timol’s death to apparently endorse suicide in detention as a resistance tactic.
Erasmus also disclosed that the police investigations branch was headed by a man considered by his colleagues so brutal and anti-semitic that he was given the moniker “Little Hitler”.
He then told the court how he became an expert at forging struggle icon Desmond Tutu’s signature, using it to reply to a wealthy US heiress who had offered him funds, declining the money.
In his role in the police’s psychological warfare unit, Erasmus said he also produced propaganda to persuade foreign leaders to cut ties to the banned African National Congress (ANC) party.
“People call it fake news today. Sometimes to stir the pot, sometimes to create false impressions – but the heart of it was to sow disunity in the liberation movement,” he said.
Erasmus appeared in court with wiry shoulder-length grey hair, carrying a dog-eared year book and wearing a black leather motorcycle jacket.
His evidence has included some of the most significant disclosures about the apartheid system since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which concluded in 1998.
Erasmus, granted partial amnesty at the TRC, also revealed that he was involved in efforts to make another activist who died in police custody appear to have been suicidal.
“We were told that Neil Aggett hung himself and told to prove he was suicidal from the day he was born,” Erasmus said.
A subsequent inquest found that the white anti-apartheid activist died by hanging and that police were not to blame. But human rights lawyer George Bizos argued at the time that his suicide was induced.
‘History is on our side’
Marjorie Jobson of the Khulumani apartheid victim support group described the claim as a major development for the family of Aggett who died in 1982.
The revelation visibly affected Jobson, who was in court, prompting her to describe the review as a “second wave of testimonies”.
Bizos, also present for the review, said that criminal charges could still be brought against those implicated in the Timol case.
“The people whose loved ones were killed by the regime want to come to terms with themselves,” he said. “They want an acknowledgement that their lives counted.”
Bizos, one of Nelson Mandela’s closest personal confidants, said that the review could have far-reaching consequences.
“Truth has a way of floating to the top. We are pleased to also reinforce this for people who were in favour of apartheid – and we encourage them to come forward,” he said.
Bizos said that he expected more case reviews, adding “history is on our side.”
The court plans to hear evidence next week from policemen present at the scene of Timol’s death.
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The people on the Islamic security watch list should be asked politely to leave France and move to an Islamic country
is suspicion enough now? not even the security forces have that much confidence in themselves
Don’t mean it as a punishment They must hate living with infidels and all the Islamophobia
Would be much happier in muslim country
Even pay them to move
There’s no ” Islamic security watch list”; sorry to burst your bubble.
Are you sure Petr? It’s a secret list after all
Are you a convert Petr to Islam?
John003….you talking to Petr? ….or …Tariq?
Petr he has the zeal of a convert in his defence of the prophet peace be upon him
I’m a secular atheist!!! :)))
You are rumbled…..
?
I have been here a lot longer than Tariq (who wipes the floor with you by the way!). I’ve also gotten more red thumbs than him. I once got 1,214 thumbs down on a comment; the most ever on The Journal. :)
http://www.thejournal.ie/profile/44356/hup-ya-boya-lol-538169/
Of course you’d know when Tariq appeared …. and which account is older…
1,214 red thumbs? you sir, are a hero.
Cheers Jester.
Paddy, yup of course I would…. because we are the same person! *Twilight Zone Music*
Ruuuuummmmmbled! :)
With three chins? Maybe you should go easy on the pork there, Liam :-)
The prophet was not a peaceful man so why wish peace upon him, he used the dirty rag of a book he had created for him (as he supposedly could not read or write) to justify conquest and mass rape and murder. He learned well the lessons taught by the old testament bible which was also created to justify the Jews genocidal ways and land theft.
Why any human in 2016 who has had even a basic education would not denounce these vile books for the hate filled bigoted factually incorrect wastes of time they are is beyond me.
Why arrest these lunatics for attempting to go to Syria to join IS? Why not just let them go and hope they get killed out there?
Unfortunately John, they might kill and/or rape innocent people before they expire. Just hand them over to the Peshmerga I reckon.
The Iraqi soldiers run a grotesque “auction” on line when they take a Wahabbi prisoner….snapchat i think…subscribers get 15 minutes to vote life or death for the “poor vulnerable” Jihadi….LIVE.
stooping to barbarism brings everyone down to the level of the barbarians
Jester…in principle yes….but what the Yazidi,Kurds and Shia Iraqis saw happen to their children etc at the hands of ISIS could only invite reciprocity.
Instead of blurring their faces, can the media put pigs heads in their place.
what about giant willies instead of faces?
Repatriation now!
“On her way to work one morning, down the path along side the lake. A tender-hearted woman saw a poor, half-frozen snake. His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew. “Oh well,” she cried, “I’ll take you in and I’ll take care of you.” “Take me in, oh tender woman. Take me in, for heaven’s sake. Take me in, oh tender woman,” sighed the vicious snake. She wrapped him all cozy in a curvature of silk. And then laid him by her fireside with some honey and some milk. Now she hurried home from work that night and soon as she arrived, She found that pretty snake she’d taken in and revived. “Take me in, oh tender woman. Take me in, for heaven’s sake. Take me in, oh tender woman,” sighed the vicious snake. Now she clutched him to her bosom. “You’re so beautiful,” she cried. “But if I hadn’t brought you in by now you would have died.” She stroked his pretty skin again and then she kissed and held him tight. Instead of saying, “thank you,” that snake gave her a vicious bite”
The woman has lost her mind.. “We can do this” she said. Unfortunately Merkel, the victims murdered can’t do anything. Merkel rules out migrant policy reversal after attacks – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36912141
repatriation back to their arrondisement?
“Repatriation now!”
Post under your real name now!
and your arrondisement
Arrondisment….Paris only. Banlieu – suburbs.
Peter , Tariq/Petr has decided to organise himself tonight so as not to make any embarrassing slip ups. He’s Petr on this thread and Tariq on the one above…. I think he might have out smartest us this time the slippery devil….
Embarrassing slips? What’s your Ma’s bedroom attire got to do with hits? :)
Bring back St Patrick drive the snakes out of Ireland.
Someone pass the calamine lotion.. Tariq tried to burn me… sorry Petr….
“Someone pass the calamine lotion…”
You’d like that wouldn’t you? Ya dirty fecker!
@Rowe – So basically we should blatantly ignore the Geneva Convention and ignore the plight of refugees from an area of the world which has been decimated in part due to western influence?
@Thinck No, I never said we should blatantly ignore the Geneva Covention now did I? As I have posted before on this subject, camps fit for purpose, with proper security and resources, in safe zones of the country of conflict, or surrounding countries is what’s needed, proper vetting of refugees to weed out the Jihadists and Illegal immigrants should be carried out in these camps would you agree? Simply inviting millions from the ME unchecked is not the solution, as the recent attacks have proven. It has left Merkel and the complicit with blood on their hands and divided the German, French, Belgians and the British voted to leave as immigration was one of the reasons they left. When there is and attack in your town or city, or when it affects you personally, see how you feel then. We are expected to allow unlimited Muslim immigration to our countries to show we are decent, Muslims are just expected to condemn bombings and beheadings.
What is the actual point of watch lists! If a person is proven to be radical they should be put in prison if they are from the country or else extradited to wherever they came from. What they shouldn’t be allowed do is kill a feeble 96 year old priest! What is the world coming to…
86…lets not get carried away…atrocious.
Oops! Finger slip! Cheers :)
Been there…….
imprisonment merely for being suspected of a crime?
People should be in prison for being ‘radical’. Thought crimes? Seriously?
Many a time …
Well surely attempting to commit a crime is still a chargeable offence? Attempting to go to Syria and join ISIS should be akin to attempted assault or something. It’s been the policy of successive right and centre/right governments that have been allowing these people to travel, or attempt, to Syria to fight and kill for ISIS with little or no consequences. And Brussels, through the conservative governments of Europe, forced upon us the treaties that allow for “open” borders and freedom of movement that facilitates thousands of EU citizens travelling to Syria and throughout Europe to fight for ISIS. And let’s not forget it was (and still is) the right, centre/right and conservative governments of the west that have been invading countries, toppling governments and most importantly supporting their ally Saudi Arabia that has directly resulted in the current mess we see in the middle east and Europe But sure let’s blame the so called libtards. The Muslim community provided the gardaí with the names of dozens of men who are or have been fighting for ISIS yet what has been done about it? You can hardly blame the left for our centre/right governments failure to act.
How can the authorities tell if you want to go to Syria to fight ISIS or want to go to Syria to help out or even fight ISIS. Should all people simply be banned from travel if you don’t like the destination
Well I’m no batman but I guess they could do something crazy like, I dunno, an investigation of some sort?
Parts of France look like Middle Eastern or North African slums.
some parts look like Britain, some like Italy, its a rich tapestry
In before the absolute shambles this comment section is going to be!
Even popcorn won’t remove the sour taste left in your mouth after reading the vitriolic comments written by qwerty, Rowe and the other jackasses who sit obediently awaiting the next isis linked journal story.
a shitshow
You’re not wrong Andrew. They seem to get a kind of sick kick out of the hate fest.
An apologist and an appeaser, great stuff. Sure let’s not point out the obvious, bury our heads in the sand, and pretend everything is just great the last few weeks, pray for so and so hash tags, hug a Muslim etc, yeah that will stop em for sure. Pointing out the fact that ISIS/ Wahhabi Islam is a barbaric cult, that gained it’s numbers through terror and fear, is not insulting Islam, it is describing Islam.
Beyond a joke now – it is but a vestibule of the demagogue sympathiser -
Unfortunately the scary thing is that these people are just following the koran and hadith literally. There is no liberal out there that can truly say they aren’t yet will admonish the religion as a whole .
Of course their are good muslims but their is many who like to interpret their holy books as are written literally. By doing this it allows them to not only justify what they do but makes them martyrs and has the promise of an amazing afterlife.
It’s liberals in the world who are now actually a big problem by excusing their violence and its association with the religion. This has everything to do with religion and the sooner people admit it and talk about it the better.
sounds like the bizarre and inappropriate ‘literal’ reading given to the US Constitution by the Conservative wing of SCOTUS
There are 1,600,000,000 Muslims in the world and of them about 25 have killed Europeans. And you want to blame all Muslims?
A war against Islam can’t be won by either side. It would drag on for centuries, return the world to the dark ages and cost hundreds of millions of lives. No winners there.
The way to deal with extremism is to present a better option and by making extremist philosophy incompatible with secular european life. Here are some simple suggestions:
*Remove welfare supports from families where the females aren’t available to work.
*Remove child support where children don’t attend secular school or engage in sporting activities, music or art.
*Remove charitable status from religious institutions of all sorts including schools that teach religious doctrine.
Where did i say all muslims ?? I didn’t as I know it isn’t. It’s people like you who label people who dare criticise a doctrine who are actually throwing fuel on the fire. There is nothing above critic, not Islam , not Christianity or anything else for that matter.
I’m simply saying if the holy books are followed literally it allows people to carry out these attacks and believe they are right.
I’m sure you probably don’t even know any muslims. I do and they are all decent people, more so than a lot of non muslims I know but they do not take the words from the Koran literally. This isn’t about muslims and anyone who says it is is just stirring it. It is about people’s interpretation of Islam.
@Coles
Most of those 1,600,000,000 Muslims are living in islamic societies, hence no need to conquer what has already been conquered. And yet they still manage to kill each other quite often. Quite a ridiculous comment.
Reopen Devils Island. Europe’s own. Gitmo.
You’re a disgrace.
Thats very judgemental Rich….
Coming from you I will take that as a complement.
Why are their faces blurred out?
New media trend #CuttingEdge
Some media organisations have said they will no longer show the terrorists faces and others have said they wont even name them.
if it was ireland the red tops would give them trendy criminal nicknames
Red Tops….trendy slang for tabloid newspapers?
about as trendy as the 1990s!
Ah yes we do love the old skumbagg story, but I love when they get wacked a bit of retribution for all the lives they have ruined makes a good read
While everyone talks about the ultimate nihilist outfit ISIS they should remember that they are in retreat but also that they are just the most feared and notorious of the many gangs that are identical to them in Syria and indeed worldwide. These dont represent ALL muslims but they do represent Wahabbism and are literally capable of anything eg Iraqs worst ever homicide bomb 292 dead. The hatred they feel toward other muslims is best exemplified by their atrocities at Al Tabqaa (Syria) and camp Speicher (Iraq)…you can inform yourself as to the why they are implacably hated and feared in those countries by googling or Youtubing those events…
Liberals in government, what do you expect.
i would expect a secular state, protection of fundamental freedoms, equality and civil rights, all the things we hold dear. unless you meant economic liberalism?
Looks like maybe England has woken up with their Quilliam foundation, jihad watch, CTC, counter terror hotline etc They turned whole continents white, They know ISIS can do the same.
I mean letting two decent lads like these boys who are on a terrorist watchlist to roam free to create terror. That sort of liberal government.
im not sure that is part of the liberal tradition, if i had to divine a term perhaps ‘optimists’?
To quote from a well known song “” I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony . . . ..”
This is how these IS peoplev are now learning to work scare us all poor to rich hurt and kill normal people every day make some western nutters walk into a mosque bump off a load of muslims at pray more not so bad but angry muslims bump off a load of non muslims in a city centre and then escalation a civil war authorities cant control IS walk in because of chaos divide and rule far fetched maybe who knows but if we dont rise to the bait the IS can never win
So whats the purpose of a watch list if its not gonna prevent such an act?
The purpose of it is to watch them, thought the clue was in its name no?
This is how these IS mob are now learning to work scare us all poor to rich hurt and kill normal people every day make some western nutters walk into a mosque bump off a load of muslims at pray more not so bad but angry muslims bump off a load of non muslims in a city centre and then escalation a civil war authorities cant control IS walk in because of chaos divide and rule far fetched maybe who knows but if we dont rise to the bait the IS can never win
Dont rise to the bait eh? Original…be patient…force them to commit ever more extreme atrocities…i like it..very Christian…
peter you may have misunderstood his point
Peter spectacularly misses the point.
I didnt miss the point last night Petr….
You were good sweetie, but but I’ve had better! :)
No just concentrate on the individuals responsible not dont give the IS what they want a civil war that would play straight into their hands
I agree
But but but…..yeah i know…..
ISIS will soon be history….Wahabism will be here for a long time….civil war suits no one.
Europe is safer than ever, even with these random attacks, we should not over react and go down the police state route the US took where individual freedoms are eroded.
A lot of these terrorists were born in Europe. More needs to be done to integrate these people and educate the general public so they grow up and put away these stupid outdated murderous ideologies and superstitions.
All religion should be banned in schools, if they can come up with a shred of proof to back up the horse shit claims in these books maybe then they can teach it but until then it should only ever be discussed during history class or maybe under fiction during English class. Either that or give equal time to the old Irish gods and the Norse gods or Roman gods or Greek Gods or the Hindu gods…… Anway as Richard Dawkins put it “We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”
Correction journal, the priest in question was 85 not 83
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Hamel
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