South African miners charged with murder of colleagues shot by police
Platinum miners were arrested following strikes in South Africa have been charged with the murder of their 34 colleagues who were shot dead by police.
Prosecuting authorities in the North West Province brought murder charges against 270 mineworkers based on an old apartheid-era law related to “common purpose".
Under this law, any form of unrest resulting in deaths allows the state to prosecute any people involved in the struggle, even if they were fighting against injustice. (workers.org)
The murder charge – and associated charges for the attempted murder of 78 miners injured at the Marikana mine near Johannesburg – was brought by the national prosecuting authority under an obscure Roman-Dutch common law previously used by the apartheid government.
UPDATE
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