THE OBSERVER
AND PRISON CONDITIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA
On August 1st 1976, The Observer published an article by a 35-year old Briton, Brian Price, who had escaped from a South African prison while serving a sentence for dealing in drugs.
The article was, in The Observer's own words, "based on conversations with Mr. Brian Price!' It portrayed South African prison life as systematically barbaric and sadistic, dwelling with particular gruesomeness on execution methods. Many of the alleged facts were admittedly third hand reports. The article was syndicated world-wide, and Mr. Price was given further coverage on BBC TV and Thames TV The South African Government regards Mr. Price's story as wholly inaccurate and sensationalist and denies the allegations entirely. This was made clear to The Observer.
The examining Magistrate, Mr. Allan King, who was involved in Mr. Price's case on more than one occasion wrote to The Observer in an attempt to set the record straight and to protest over inaccuracies and distortions. The Observer declined publication.
On September 2nd 1976 the South African Embassy invited The Observer to nominate a mutually acceptable legal expert to visit South Africa with complete freedom to investigate the alleged facts in Mr. Price story. The Observer accepted the offer, but nominated a QC who, although eminent, was not acceptable to the South African Government In the spirit of the agreement to find a mutually acceptable and independent legal expert to investigate pnson conditions in South Africa, the Embassy then proposed three equally distinguished British QC's.
The Observer's response to this offer was to publish an editorial on November 21st under the title "South Africa Evasions!'
This editorial concluded: "The South Africans' subtle evasions have now persuaded us that they must have something very serious to hide!' Three days after this editorial, the Director of Information at the South African Embassy wrote to The Observer repeating its offer, and said:— "I can think of nothing more blunt and to the point than a specific invitation to a legal expert to conduct a free and open enquiry into the Price allegations which your newspaper deemed fit to publish.
Your leader ofNovember 21st,1976 as well as the letter which you addressed to me on November 19th,1976, are in fact sophistic evasions.The central issue remains that we find a person who is mutually acceptable to enquire into the Price allegations!"
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