The leaflet says the Sharpeville Six have been incarcerated for nearly 4 years following a trial that was marked by glaring irregularities: secret witnesses, denial of cross-examination and confessions extracted under torture. The leaflet says on March 17, they were to be hanged but international pressure forced the court to grant them a stay of execution until April 18; meanwhile, the execution of other political prisoners is proceeding at a fast pace; on March 18, Tsepo Letsoara was hanged for having allegedly killed a police informer; on March 25 and 29, seven other political prisoners were hanged; international public pressure clearly played a significant role in delaying the execution of...
The leaflet says the Sharpeville Six have been incarcerated for nearly 4 years following a trial that was marked by glaring irregularities: secret witnesses, denial of cross-examination and confessions extracted under torture. The leaflet says on March 17, they were to be hanged but international pressure forced the court to grant them a stay of execution until April 18; meanwhile, the execution of other political prisoners is proceeding at a fast pace; on March 18, Tsepo Letsoara was hanged for having allegedly killed a police informer; on March 25 and 29, seven other political prisoners were hanged; international public pressure clearly played a significant role in delaying the execution of the Sharpeville Six. The pressure must continue! The leaflet urges people to send a telegram/telex demanding that immediate clemency be granted to the Sharpeville Six and those other political prisoners presently on death row to President P.W. Botha at the State President's Office and Ambassador Pieter G. Koornhof at the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Washington, DC. The leaflet also asks people to telephone the office of their Senator and Member of the House of Representatives and urge them to follow up on the Dear Colleague letter being circulated by the Ad Hoc Monitoring Group on Southern Africa and send an individual further appeal for immediate clemency to President Botha. The leaflet includes a handwritten note that date of execution has been extended until the end of May.
