Biko family against amnesty

Cape Town - The family of the South African black activist, Steve Biko, said yesterday the truth commission should not grant …

Cape Town - The family of the South African black activist, Steve Biko, said yesterday the truth commission should not grant amnesty to five former security officers for their role in his death 20 years ago.

"We will oppose amnesty," Mr Nkosinati Biko (27) said after the last day of a three-part truth commission hearing into his father's death in police custody in 1977.

Mr Biko said the five policemen, who are applying for amnesty for their part in the brain damage-induced death of the 30-year-old black consciousness leader, had not made a full disclosure to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. "There is a possibility that there might have been perjury," he said.