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                South Africa Drops Murder Charges Against Miners

   by VOA News

   South African prosecutors have provisionally dropped murder charges
   against 270 miners accused of killing 34 fellow workers shot dead by
   police.

   The miners were charged following the  August 16 shooting incident
   during a strike at the Lonmin mine in Marikana.

   The acting director of prosecutions, Nomgcono Jiba, said Sunday that
   final charges will only be made once all investigations are complete.
   She said the murder charges against the 270 suspects will be formally
   withdrawn provisionally in court.

   Local authorities charged the miners under an obscure statute called
   the "common purpose law," under which people in a crowd where a crime
   was committed can be charged as accomplices.

   Under the Apartheid-era law, the miners can be blamed for the deaths
   even though police did the shooting in the incident.

   Prosecutors say police were forced to shoot at the miners because the
   strikers were attacking officers with machetes and clubs. Police say
   the miners had fired at least one gun.

   Workers at the platinum mine near Johannesburg went on strike earlier
   in August for more pay. The shooting incident was preceded by clashes
   in which 10 people, including two police officers, were killed.


   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/south-africa-drops-murder-charges-aga
   inst-miners/1500216.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/south-africa-drops-murder-charges-against-miners/1500216.html