Call for probe into anti-apartheid activist's death

The findings in the Ahmed Timol inquest, where the presiding officer found that the anti-apartheid activist was murdered and did not commit suicide, has given impetus to calls to reopen the case into the death of Ashley Kriel. A Cape Argus report notes that the Bonteheuwel uMkhonto we Sizwe soldier was killed in 1987 while being arrested. The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation said it supported the call to reopen the hearings into Kriel’s death. Kriel was killed on 9 July 1987, in a house in Hazendal, Athlone. Security police officers told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that Kriel was shot while resisting arrest. However, forensic scientist David Klatzow has been investigating Kriel’s case for 29 years and suggests he was shot from afar, while handcuffed. The apartheid security forces had always ‘planted evidence’ to criminalise and murder anti-apartheid activists, added Klatzow.

Full Cape Argus report (subscription needed)