The case of Malesela Benjamin MOLOISE, who was sentenced to death for allegedly murdering a security policeman in November 1982, has been raised in the United Nations Security Council.
A meeting was requested by Togo and took place on 13 January. The South African authorities were called on to commute Moloise's sentence. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Javier Perez de Cuellar, has made a personal plea for Moloise's life through the South African Embassy in Paris.
The African National Congress, who claimed in 1982 to be responsible for the security policeman's death, issued a statement in November 1983 after Moloise's application for leave of appeal was turned down. The statement read: '...we hereby wish to state categorically and unequivocally that Moloise was wrongfully arrested and falsely charged and convicted as he had absolutely nothing to do with the execution of Selepe at any stage'. (Selepe is the name of the security policeman who was killed).
Moloise was a close friend of Marcus Motaung, one of the three ANC guerillas who were executed in June 1983. In the trial of the three, Moloise refused to give evidence. Warrant-Officer Selepe gave evidence for the State, as he had done in many other major political trials. Selepe drove Moloise to and from the court each day during the trial.
Moloise was detained on 14 February 1983. A statement in which he is said to have 'confessed' to the killing was extracted from him under duress and before he was allowed legal representation. This statement was used as the primary evidence on which he was convicted.
Throughout his trial Moloise maintained his innocence and denied the truth of the statement he had made, saying he had made it because he feared the security police. Moloise's lawyers are petitioning the State President for clemency and intend leading further sociological evidence.
