* Experts say measure not used since apartheid times
* Say charges inflame already tense situation
* Talks resume to get workers back next week
* Mines minister says unrest could hit investment
By Ed Stoddard and Jon Herskovitz
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 30 (Reuters) – South African prosecutors
on Thursday charged 270 striking miners with murder of 34
co-workers seen being shot dead in a hail of police bullets
captured in videos broadcast around the world.
Prosecution have filed papers invoking a measure called
“common purpose” seldom used since the dying days of apartheid,
arguing the miners were complicit in the killings since they
were arrested at the scene with weapons.
Legal experts said the move will likely collapse when a
court hearing bail applications for the 270 near the mine
resumes sessions next week and lambasted prosecutors for
inflaming a tense situation by seeking a mass indictment that
will eventually be rejected.
“This is bizarre and shocking and represents a flagrant
abuse of the criminal justice system in an effort to protect the
police and/or politicians,” Pierre de Vos, a law expert at the
University of Cape Town, wrote in a blog entry.
Continued…
