Murder Charges Dropped Against South African Miners

Prosecutors provisionally dropped murder charges against the 270 miners who had been accused under an obscure legal doctrine of killing 34 of their own colleagues when the police opened fire on them while engaged in a protest.

The police fired live ammunition into a crowd of about 3,000 platinum miners armed with clubs and machetes while trying to disperse the illegal strike on Aug. 16. When the firing stopped, 34 miners were dead and South Africa was outraged by the bloodiest confrontation between the police and civilians since the end of apartheid. The police have claimed they acted in self-defense.

The outrage grew when prosecutors announced that under a legal doctrine known as “common purpose,” the miners themselves would be charged with murdering their colleagues. Under the doctrine, which was frequently used in the waning days of apartheid to charge members of protesting crowds with serious crimes committed by a few individuals, people in a mob can be charged as accomplices.

In a hastily arranged news conference, officials from the National Prosecuting Authority said that they would await the outcome of further investigations into the shootings, but they did not rule out bringing murder charges again. Prosecutors also said they had not ruled out charges against the police.

South Africa miners charged with murder of colleagues shot by police

About 270 miners were charged with the murders of 34 striking colleagues who were shot by South African police officers. This development has further infuriated South Africans already shocked and angered by the police action. The decision to charge the miners comes under an arcane Roman-Dutch common purpose law used under the apartheid regime, and it suggests President Jacob Zuma’s government wants to shift blame for the killings from police to the striking miners.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Frank Lesenyego told reporters that “It’s the police who were shooting, but they were under attack by the protesters, who were armed, so the 270 accused are charged with the murders” of those who were shot.

More than 150 of the arrested miners have filed complaints that they have been beaten up in police cells by officers, the Independent Police Complaints Directorate reported. The strike, apparently rooted in rivalry between two trade unions, had rock drill operators demanding a minimum wage of 12,500 rand ($1,560) and complaining that their take-home pay was only about 5,500 rand ($688).

Some survivors said many of the miners were fleeing police tear gas and water cannons when they were shot. Police Commissioner Gen. Riah Phiyega has been criticized for saying her officers “did nothing wrong.” She said they acted in self-defense, using live bullets only after they were fired upon and had failed to stop a charge of miners with water cannons, stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets.

Subsidy Scam: Activist disagree with Police on Lawan’s Trial

A human rights activist, Mr. Kayode Ajulo has disagreed with an alleged decision of the police authorities to put on hold trial of the former Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Hon. Farouk Lawan, over the $620,000 bribery scandal.  Ajulo who is legal practitioner, described the reports of police to wait for the legal advice of the Attorney-General as tantamount to double standard. The activist said by the nature and form of the bribery case, it is quite clear that the police and even the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) have constitutional powers to prosecute the matter.

According Ajulo, “the alleged report that the police was waiting for the Attorney-General’s legal advice on Lawan’s bribery scandal is rather unfortunate as it has no basis in the Nigerian jurisprudence. As a lawyer, I saw the police position on this as double standard based on the personalities involved, The matter nevertheless is common criminal offence provided for in our penal/criminal code.  One therefore wondered if every common case of graft is sent to the AGF for legal advice, how many of such cases will be prosecuted.”