WERNER, HEISENBERG. AFFIDAVIT OFFERED IN ALEXANDER CASE -
From clipp ings received from South Africa, we are able to provide further details about the sentencing of Dr. Neville Alexander and..ten other defendants in Cape Town April 15 to sentences up to ten years because of their political opposition to the governmentts fascist-like apartheid policy, [See World Outlook April 24,]
In a final appeal before the court, the defense attorneys introduced a number of affidavits in behalf of the defendants. Four of the affidavits were from West Germany where Dr, Alexander gained fame during his days at Tltibingen University.
Werner Heisenhere, the world famous nuclear physicist and wins ner of a Nobel Prize, now the president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation * wrote that the chief defendant in Cape Town's notorious " sabotage trial was a fellow of the Von Humboldt Founda-~ tion from October 1958 to July 1959. .-His term was. twice. extended, Prof, Heisenberg said, because of his putstanding scholarly work ate. the Tibingen University where he received | DLS doctorate magna cum . laude, .
A similar affidavit was presented by Dr. Friedrich Beissner, Professor of German Philology and director of the Institute of Ger~ _ man Language and Literature at Tlibingen University. He said, among other things, that Dr. Alexander was an. outstanding young man of most estimable qualities,
Judge ii,A, van Heerden, however, brushed all such things aside, In his opinion they were guilty of preaking South Africa's infamous "sabotage" law, although he conceded that no actual deeds had been committed -- all that was involved being the expression of ideas and "intentions,"
He. recognized that they were well-known in South Africa and had. high standing. [The newspapers have given the witch-hunt trial. tremendous publicity in South Africa -~ although a great conspiracy of silence has been maintained throughcut the rest of the world about this important case -- and a "large crowd" formed in the street around the court on the day the verdict was handed down.] But in the judge's eyes this made their dangerous thoughts ald the more reprehensible.
Under the terms of the law, the judge found them guilty of. belonging to the National Liberation Front -~ an organization which the defendants admitted they had formed, Judge van Heerden noted that they had read books about guerrilla warfare and had discussed introducing techniques of “armed insurrection into the liberatory struggle" against the white Herrenvolk, The defendants had even written dosouments,.
"The court is satisfied that these documents are not those of a study group ~- aimed at forming a united iiberatory front or merely to study political matters,
"They are those of «4 paramilitary organization with both military and political. aims, a Oo ‘
"By means of a combination of political agitation and guerrilla warfare, supplemented by wide-spread sabotage, strikes and demon-. strations they aimed at the overthrow of the Government of the Republic,"
The plan, according to the judge, was to establish cells in each town and to train members as guerrilla fighters. and leaders,
Some of the witnesses had been subjected to.prolonged solitary confinement, and the defense had introduced expert testimony on how this could affect: what the witnesses might say. [See World Outlook April 10.] The judge disagreed, He said he had watched these witnesses’ in court and they looked all right to him, "To the court he appeared a perfectly normal witness," he said of one.
Moreover, the medical experts hadn't actually examined the specific. witnesses. "They therefore could not say whether these were types that would be affected by detention, In any event the medical evidence is that whatever the effect might have been, it would have worn off by the time they came to give evidence in court,"
The judge made the following. statement concerning the state's case, which should provide an indication as to the ae of the sabotage" law:
"The State, by establishing the existence of the N,L.F., and its aims, has proved a conspiracy to commit unlawful and willful acts. The State has shown that if the acts contemplated were committed, the safety of the public and the maintenance of law and order would have been endangered, -
"The property of the State and others would have been destroyed and persons would’ have been maliciously killed and murdered,'
And so, although no acts at all were committed that “would have" allegedly had such dire consequences, according to the prosecution, all seven mon and four women, most of them school teachers, librarians, students (one was a minister) were given savage sentencos, Five were given ten years in South Africa's fetid prisons; two seven. years; and four were “let off" with five years, —
NELSON MANDELA TELLS COURT "I AM READY TO DIE"
The trial of Nelson Mandela and eight other defendants on charges of violating South Africats "sabotage" act, which had been adjourned six weeks, was resumed April 20 in Pretoria.
This was just five days after South Africa's second showcase witch=hunt trial ~~ involving Dr. Neville Alexander and ten others -game to a close, Undoubtedly the Alexander trial served to establish certain precedents for the further handling of the Mandela case,
The Mandela trial opened last October 29, It was quashed the same day by the judge because of the "irregular" way in which the prosecution had prepared the case, This did not bother the proseoution much, however, The police pounced on the defendants in the court room, a quite legal procedure under South Africa's fascistlike laws, and dragged them back to their cells while a new case was prepared, At that time there.were eleven defendants but it was announced that one of them had agreed to turn state's witness and in return would not be prosecuted,
Although Mandela was already serving a prison sentence, he was charged with "responsibility" for 222 alleged acts of “sabotage,” Under this law he can be given the death penalty. [For background see World Outlook October 18 and November 15, ]
On his first day again in court, Nelson Mandela read a long statement entitled "Why I Am Ready to Die," which was placed on the press wires, [The case has received good publicity abroad, among other reasons because of the interest displayed by the United Nations in it.] Extensive sections of Mandela's statement, which specifies his beliefs, appeared in the London Observer of April 26. From that source, we have reproduced some of the highlights:
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I am the first accused, I hold a Bachelor!s Degree in Arts and practised as an attorney in Johannesburg for a number of years in partnership with Oliver Tambo. I am a convicted prisoner serving five years for leaving the country without a permit and for inoiting people to go on strike at the end of May, 1961.
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I admit immediately that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkonto We Sizwe [The Spear of the Nation], and that I played a prominent role in its affairs until I was arrested in August, 1962,
I, and the others who started the organisation, did so for two reasons, Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalise and control the
feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy.
But the violence we chose to adopt was not terrorism, We wno formed the Umkonto were all members of the African National Congress, and had behind us the A.N.C. tradition of non-violence and negotiation as a means of solving political disputes,
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It may not be easy for this court to understand, but it is a fact that for a long time the people had been talking of violence == of the day when they would fight the white man and win back their country, and we, the leaders of the A.N.C., had nevertheless always prevailed upon them to avoid violence and to pursue peaceful methods, When some of us discussed this in May and June of 1961, it could not be denied that our policy to achieve a non-racial State by nonviolence had achieved nothing, and that our followers were beginning to lose confidence in this policy and were developing disturbing ideas of terrorism,
It must not be forgotten that by this time violence had, in fact, become a feature of the South African political scene, How many’ more Sharpevilkes would there be in the history of our country? And how many'more Sharpevilles could the country stand without ' violence and terror becoming the order of the day? -
At the beginning of. June, 1961, after a long and anxious agsessment of the South African situation, I, and some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the Government met our peaceful demands with force,
Umkonto was formed in November, 1961. Umkonto was to perform sabotage, and strict instructions were given to its members right from the start that on no account were they to injure or kill poople in planning vr carrying out operations,
The fight which held out the best prospects for us and the least risk of life to both sides was guerrilla warfare.
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I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and, whilst abroad, underwent a course in military training. If there was to bo guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them,
I approached this question as every African Nationalist should do, I was completely objective, The court will see that I attempted to examine all types of authority on the subject -- from the East and from the West, going back to the classic work of Clausewitz, and covering such a variety as Mao Tse-tung and Che Guevara on the one hand, and the writings on the Anglo-=Boer War on the other,
Another of the allegations made by the State is that the aims and objects of the A.N.C. and the Communist Party are the same. The allegation as to the A.N.C. is false, -
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It is true that there has oftten been close co-operation between the A.N.C, and the Communist Party. But co-operation is merely proof of a common goal -- in this case the rémoval of white supremacy -- and is not proof of a complete community of interests,
It is perhaps difficult for white South Africans, with an ingrained prejudice against Communism, to understand why experienced African politicians so readily accept Communists as their friends. But to us the reason is obvious, Theoretical differences amongst those fighting against oppression is a luxury we cannot afford at this stage, What is morc, for many decades Communists were the only political group in South Africa who were prepared to treat Africans as human beings and their equals; who were prepared to cat with us; talk with us, live with us and work with us, They were the only political group which was prepared to work with the Africans for the attainment of political rights and a stake in society. Because of. this, there are many Africans who, today, tend to cquate freedom with Communism,
It is not only in internal politics that we count Communists as amongst those who support our cause, Although there is a universal condemnation of apartheid, the Communist bloc speaks out against it with a louder voice than most of the white world.
I turn now to my own position. I have denied that I am a Communist, and I think that in the circumstances I am obliged to state exactly what my political beliefs are,
I have always regardcd myself, in the first place, as an African patriot, ...
It is truc, as I have already stated, that I have been influenced by Marxist thought, But this is also true of many of the leaders of the new independent States, Such widely different persons as Gandhi, Nehru, Nkrumah and Nasser all acknowledgo this fact, We all accept the nood for some form of Socialism to enable our people to catch up with the -advanced countries of this world and to overcone
their legacy of extreme poverty. But this does not mean we are Marxists. mo
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From my reading of Marxist literature and from conversations with Marxists, I have gained the impression that Communists regard the parliamentary system of the West as undemocratic and reactionary. But, on the contrary, I am an admirer of such a system,
The Magna Charta, the Petition of Rights and the Bill of Rights are documents which are held in veneration by democrats throughout the world,
I have great respect for British political institutions, and for the country's system of justice, I regard the British Parlia~ ment as the most democratic institution in the world, and the independence and impartiality of its judiciary never fail to arouse ny admiration,
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Basically, we fight against two features which. are the hallmarks of African life in South Africa and which are entrenched by legislation which we seek to have repealed, : These features are poverty and. lack of human dignity. :
South Africa is the richest country in Africa, and could be one of the richest countries in the world. But it is a land of oxtremes and remarkable contrasts. The whites enjoy what may well be the highest standard of living in the world, whilst Africans live in poverty and misery.
The lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of the policy of white supremacy... White supremacy implies black inferiority. Legislation designed to preserve white supremacy entrenches this notion,
Africans want to be paid a living wage. Africans want to perform work which they are capable of doing, and not work which the Government declares them to be capable of, Africans want to be allowed to live where they obtain work, and not be endorsed out of an area because they were not born there. Africans want to be allowed to own land in places where they work, and not to be obliged to live in rented houses which they can never call their own. Africans want to be part of the general population, and not confined to living in their own ghettos.
Above all, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent, I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy.
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"Drive a While for Freedom"
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