Rivonia Trial

The Rivonia Trial was an infamous trial which took place in South Africa between 1963 and 1964, in which ten leaders of the African National Congress were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to "ferment violent revolution".

Charges

Charges were:

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• recruiting persons for training in the preparation and use of explosives and in guerrilla warfare for the purpose of violent revolution and committing acts of sabotage
• conspiring to commit the aforementioned acts and to aid foreign military units when they invaded the Republic,
• acting in these ways to further the objects of communism
• soliciting and receiving money for these purposes from sympathizers in Algeria, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Tunisia, and elsewhere.

"Production requirements" for munitions for a six-month period were sufficient, the prosecutor Percy Yutar said in his opening address, to blow up a city the size of Johannesburg.

Related Topics:
Percy Yutar - Johannesburg

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Kantor was discharged at the end of the prosecution's case.

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The trial was condemned by the United Nations Security Council, and led to their trying to get international sanctions imposed against the South African government.

Related Topics:
United Nations Security Council - Sanctions

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