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h(d\h 3 . 5 pi 621 INNES CHAMBERS, PRITCHARD STREET, JOHANNESBURG. ,12th June, 1964. Dear John, The Rivonia case ended at noon today, when sentences of life imprisonment were imposed on all the remaining eight accused - Bernstein as you know was acquitted yesterday and immediately re-arrested, pre­ sumably on a charge of taking part in the activities of one of our"unlawful organizations. 'v- ^ There was tremendous tension in court. Even before arriving in Pretoria one,had to pass through police blocks along all the main roads leading to that city. In and around the court buildings there were armed police, tommy guns, rifles with bayonets, etc. The atmosphere which this sort of thing creates in an cprdinary court is extremely difficult to describe. I tfhink one has to experience it in order to know what it is. /' As you know, the accused had all been found I— guilty of sabotage yesterday and today the evidence of Alan Paton was led in mitigation and Harold Hanson, Q.C. addressed the court for about three-quarters of an hour in a truly magnificent speech. As you also probably know, the accused were found guilty in greatly varying degrees: Mandela had told the court how and why he founded Umkonto; Sisulu, though never actually a member of the High Command, accepted full responsibility as the person who exercised political control; Mbeki - the gentlest of them all - first became associated with Umkonto in January, 1963, and only went onto the High Command in April, 1963, but accepted full responsibility for everything. Motsoaledi and Mlangeni admitted to having fulfilled subsidiary roles in the organization. It was difficult to see precisely on what grounds the court convicted Mhlaba and Kathrada. Despite these differences all were given life / - 2 life sentences which to us seems wholly incomprehensible. However, in the long run this may turn out to be an advantage because one feels that the length of sentence is today almost a technicality. * With the powers that i Mr. Vorster has to extend the period of imprisonment indefinitely beyond the period of the sentence, it is a reasonable assumption that men of this calibre will not be released from prison until there is a major change in the political situation. It is possible therefore that a better campaign can be run round the eight life sentences than round a number of sentences of varying periods which might suggest that a campaign was not really necessary. But this is news which you will have had fully reported in the London newspapers by the time this letter reaches you.j^Miat I want to tell you about is something different. J^First of~~all^ /eU.l",the accused have asked me to express j^pDyou“ personally^ their deep gratitude a for all that Defence and Aid has done not only for them but also for those many accused in different parts of the country who have benefited so much by the assistance. Being the men they are, they are probably more grateful for the assistance given to others than for the assistance /- which they received. I should like to assure you and Defence and Aid that this assistance has been of tremendous value in two ways. It has of course boosted the morale of the many hundreds who have been prosecuted but has also saved a very substantial number from conviction and in many cases has led to lighter sentences than the accused V would otherwise have received. /1 .. r Two enormous tasks remain. The first of course is to build up a public opinion which will persuade \ this government to release its political prisoners and if possible persuade them not to execute the four men condemned to death. The second task is one about which I hesitate to speak because of the enormous efforts already made by Defence and Aid. But it is clear that there are going to bemany other prosecutions all over the country and as you know the government is making it as difficult as possible to conduct defences. /For instance, 36 persons were charged in Pretoria recently, these being persons who were on their way out of the country and had been sent back from Rhodesia. Technically they could not all be charged in Pretoria but M r . / .. A a T « 3 - Mr. Joffe was only too happy to accept that position instead of having them charged in each of the Provinces from which they came. The State has now decided to withdraw the Pretoria charge and 'defences will have to be organized in the Transvaal, in the Eastern Province and in the Western Province, just trebling the difficul­ ties for everyone.^ I would like to say two further things. The morale of the men in the Rivonia trial was splendid. Through all the lcng months they have thought a good deal more about others in trouble, in 90 days or being prosecuted in out of the way corners in South Africa, than they have about their own troubles. Indeed at times they appeared almost unconscious, of the very real "danger in which they themselves lived.-$2We went to see the accused after sentence and found them eating a cold chicken lunch which' had been sent into the cells for them, i^hey have of course got on to excellent terms with the men immediately in charge of them and these men allowed them to remain on in the court cgils in order to eat a lunch which it would have been • illegal for them to eat in gaoi'T^.Lln many ways, important and unimportant, this trial has changed attitudes. One /- \ / intelligent (jvarder^ when Mbeki suggested that he would *)v y -I have to get used to living with Mbeki for many years, said in Afrikaans: "I do not think we shall keep you sq long; l/ft \P' we have all learnt ay.great deal during this case.The other thing is thattjpe.1 Joff<=)has been magnificent in the quiet, efficient and inexpensive way in which he has managed to conduct not only this enormous case but other prosecutions in Johannesburg and Pretoria. y-Ie deserves the thanks of ^ all we.1.1 wishers of the movement for freedom in South Africa^ Please convey to everyone who has been concerned with the collection of funds in London my personal thanks for all that they have done. This may sound as if I am overlooking the value of the moral support which we have received. That in fact has been very great indeed. The Christian Action vigil must have been very impressive. I am sending you two copies of this letter. I hope Miss Nuell may be able to use them. As always, with many thanks, Yours very sincerely, (V* p.s. / .X Collection Number: AD1844 State vs Nelson Mandela and 9 Others (Rivonia Trial) PUBLISHER: Publisher:- Historical Papers Research Archive Location:- Johannesburg © LEGAL NOTICES: Copyright Notice: All materials on the Historical Papers website are protected by South African copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise published in any format, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Disclaimer and Terms of Use: Provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein, you may download material (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal and/or educational non-commercial use only. 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