During the original inquest in 1970, interrogating officers claimed that Imam Haron sustained his injuries falling down a staircase. On Friday 11 November a pathologist testified that the activist’s injuries were undoubtedly caused by assault.
Also read: Abdullah Haron: Inquest reopened 50 years after death in custody
The inquest into the death of Imam Abdullah Haron, who died in police custody in 1969, was reopened in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday 8 November.
The original inquest concluded that Haron’s many bruises, congested kidneys and intestines and cracked ribs were most likely caused by a fall down a flight of stairs at the Caledon police station (now Cape Town central police station).
According to News24, during the reopened inquest pathologist Dr Steven Naidoo testified that the anti-apartheid activist was most likely “kicked, punched, stomped on and hit with a truncheon” while detained in 1969.
Imam Haron’s family has requested that the claims made in the 1970 inquest be overturned and that the police involved in Haron’s death be posthumously found guilty of deliberate torture and murder.
They have also asked that the pathologist and magistrate involved in the original inquest be posthumously stripped of their qualifications.
The inquest will continue on Monday 14 November.
Read more on News24.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc Gallery
