Sir Walter Raleigh, British aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer, is put on trial for treason in 1603, accused of taking part in th Main Plot (strange name, but there was also a Bye Plot going on at the same time) against King James I. He was held in prison until 1616, then released. Two years later he was executed, in this case for ‘war crimes’ – attacking and butchering a Spanish settlement on one of his searches for ‘El Dorado‘.

He was also the inspiration for Lord Flashheart in Blackadder season 2:

Here is some Walter Raleigh in Europeana:
                            

In September 2009 Abahlali baseMjondolo was violently attacked by the local ANC in the Kennedy Road squatter camp in Durban. The attackers were armed and shouted ANC and ethnic slogans. To their eternal and permanent disgrace the provincial ANC heralded this attack as the ‘liberation’ of the area. For months after the attack the homes of Abahlali baseMjondolo leaders were openly and publicly destroyed with impunity by the local ANC.

The attackers have never been brought to book for the original attack or for the reign of terror that they instituted in the area after the attack. The police refused to investigate charges brought against the ANC members that openly destroyed more than forty homes of Abahlali baseMjondolo leaders in the months after the attack.

Instead twelve young men who had performed an iMfene dance at an Abahlali baseMjondolo Heritage Day event were arrested and charged with all kinds of crimes including murder. They were jailed for eight months before they got bail even though there was no evidence against any of them. One of the magistrates openly described the case as political and another was openly advised by ANC leaders in the court.

Almost three years later those twelve young men have been acquitted of all charges. There was huge political pressure to secure a conviction in this case but despite setting up a special task team to oversee the case the state could not bring any credible evidence against any of the accused on any charge. Some of the prosecution’s own witnesses admitted under cross examination that the police were trying to frame the accused. One witness openly admitted that she had been lying. The only two credible witnesses brought by the prosecution testified that the Abahlali baseMjondolo account of the events of September 2009 was correct.

Abahlali baseMjondolo did not have to mount any defence at all in the court because there was simply no case for any of the accused to answer. This was a complete and decisive victory. The movement has been vindicated and the nefarious role of the ANC and the police exposed.

At this time our thoughts are with the twelve and their families. They have suffered terribly over the last years. We wish them well in their civil case against the Minister of Police.

Abahlali baseMjondolo is not the first social movement to have been subject to state repression and it will not be the last. But this attack, and the complicity with it by the police and senior ANC leaders in the province, is certainly the worst incidence of repression against a social movement so far in post-apartheid South Africa. It is essential that we all learn the lessons from this attack and that all the movements and progressive forces find ways to support each other in this climate of increasing repression.

As the Unemployed People’s Movement we send our warmest greetings to all the comrades in Durban. We salute the courageous role played by Bishop Rubin Phillip in standing by a movement under attack and the role of the churches that assisted the movement with legal costs during this trial. We salute those witnesses for the prosecution that had the courage to tell the truth in the court.

This is a great day for democracy and a great day for the struggle of the working class and the poor in South Africa.

Ayanda Kota 078 625 6462
Xola Mali 072 299 5253

Today, 12 members of Abahlali baseMjondolo from Kennedy Road will be in court following more than a year of delays in this clearly political murder trial.

We would like to declare our full solidarity with our Poor People’s Alliance partner during these trying times.

More than a year ago, the Shackdwellers Movement was attacked by an armed mob affiliated with the local ANC.  They chased away members of the movement from a youth camp and began demolishing peoples homes.  Community members defended themselves and, during the violent clash that resulted in the early hours of the morning, two people died and dozens were hurt.  When the sun rose, police arrived and arrested 13 members of Abahlali baseMjondolo (all amapondo) whether or not they were even present in Kennedy Road during the attacks.  No one from the armed mob was arrested and police stood by when the mob mobilised once again to destroy the houses of the Abahlali leadership.  For a more detailed investigation into the events, see this paper by Kerry Chance who interviewed over 100 residents of Kennedy Road.

Because this trial has become political with ANC leaders putting pressure on the justice system, we know that the trial has not and will not be fair and just.  We only hope that the judge will reconise the political nature of this trial and recognise our humanity as the poor is not less than the humanity of the rich and politically well-connected.  More background on the political nature of the case can be found here.

For more information on the trial, please contact Abahlali baseMjondolo at:

031 304 6420 (Office)
082 830 2707 (Ms Zodwa Nsibande)
074 730 8120 (Ms Bandile Mdlalose)

You may contact the Anti-Eviction Campaign for comment at:

078 580 8646 (Mncedisi Twalo)
072 392 5859 (Gary Hartzenberg)

Louis Capet Arrives in Hell

To Judge a King, January 4, 2010

Being a young historian interested in the French Revolution, I am surprised just how few books there are in English on the trial of Louis Capet, and so this book was an enticing find. It is important to note that the title is a bit misleading, as the book is not entirely first-hand source material from the trial, nor is it entirely on Louis Capet. The first half of the book is a comparative essay between the ideology of kingship, the trial, and the execution of Charles I of England and Louis XVI of France, with more of an emphasis on the latter, followed by a selection of speeches. Despite this unexpected twist, Michael Walzer’s essay is phenomenally well done and is an invaluable insight into the trials, compellingly arguing for historians of England to place greater importance on Charles’ trial and justifying both trials. Rather than offering a chronological background of the ancien régime, the author provides a detailed analysis of the mythology, role, and powers of the kings of England and France up to those points, and comparing their significance, both real and in the popular imagination, as compared to the aristocratic councils and parliaments. Afterward, he analyzes the origins of and true meaning of the monarchy’s claim to “inviolability,” so crucial in the trials to come. Next, he offers the kings’ defenses before the accusations by the respective prosecutors, in light of the history laid out previously. With that established, he follows up with a convincing argument that first of all the king can be judged, and furthermore judged by legislative councils, since neither the English Parliament nor the French National Convention were traditionally judicial bodies, and separates and addresses in detail both the political and legal arguments involved in the whole process. Moreover, when the author progresses to the National Convention’s debate on the issue, he analyzes all the possibilities discussed on Louis Capet’s fate and individually addresses the arguments forwarded by each of the factions, especially noting the ideological differences between the royalists, Girondins, and Jacobins, with the first and last opposing holding any trial at all (although for entirely opposite reasons).

Overall, I found the author’s essay to be one of the best writings on the subject of the Trial of former-Louis XVI available, written in a clear and interesting style, yet not shy on details. It presupposes a minimal level of knowledge of the French Revolution and political theory, but it is not filled with complex-jargon or unnecessarily complicated expressions and phrases, so although not seemingly aimed at students, it should not be a terrible challenge for one at that level to grasp the work. This book deserves a place on the shelf on anyone interested in the French Revolution, political history in general, or revolutionary political theory.