THE JAIL DIARY OF ALBIE SACHS

by Albie Sachs ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 1967

At the time of his imprisonment in 1963, Albie Sachs was a thirty-year-old South African advocate who had defended in court victims of the Apartheid Laws. Sachs was imprisoned for three months under the Ninety Days Law, surely one of the most illegal laws ever devised in any country. Under this law a man can be held incommunicado for ninety days for any reason whatsoever. In Sachs' case, he was freed on the ninetieth day and immediately rearrested under the same law since he had refused to give evidence against himself or any acquaintance. Eventually he served five months and two weeks in solitary confinement and was released only under ""ban,"" namely, that he could not leave Capetown, assemble with two or more persons or publish anything he writes. The present book apparently puts him in great peril, since he is still in Capetown. During imprisonment Sachs had no legal recourse, no lawyer, and kept his sanity by exercising, planning to write a play and by secret conversations (sometimes by whistling) with other prisoners. This book is a diary in recollection rather than fact, but its message is as explicit as a barred window.

Pub Date: June 14, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1967

Categories: NONFICTION