NELSON MANDELA WAS FREED TODAY AFTER 26 YEARS IN JAIL
On this day in 1990 Nelson Mandela was freed today after 26 years in jail for his opposition to South Africa's white racist regime. President E.W. de Klerk unconditionally revoked the 72 year old black leader's life sentence for treason and sabotage. Met at the prison by his wife Winnie and a crowd of supporters, Mandela set off to a jubilant crowd in front of Cape Town's city hall. His message was one of ''peace, democracy and freedom'' - but he also endorsed the African National Congress's ''armed struggle''. In jail, he had refused offers of freedom in exchange of renouncing violence. Mandela, a lawyer, became an ANC leader in 1949, working under Noble peace Prize-winner Albert Luthuli. The ANC, founded in 1912, was committed to peaceful resistance for 48 years, in spite of the brutal official response to black protest. But when white people massacred black protesters Sharpeville in 1960, Mandela started a sabotage campaign. In jail he become the symbol of freedom in the black struggle that has no forced de Klerk's government to renounce apartheid.
On this day in 1990 Nelson Mandela was freed today after 26 years in jail for his opposition to South Africa's white racist regime. President E.W. de Klerk unconditionally revoked the 72 year old black leader's life sentence for treason and sabotage. Met at the prison by his wife Winnie and a crowd of supporters, Mandela set off to a jubilant crowd in front of Cape Town's city hall. His message was one of ''peace, democracy and freedom'' - but he also endorsed the African National Congress's ''armed struggle''. In jail, he had refused offers of freedom in exchange of renouncing violence. Mandela, a lawyer, became an ANC leader in 1949, working under Noble peace Prize-winner Albert Luthuli. The ANC, founded in 1912, was committed to peaceful resistance for 48 years, in spite of the brutal official response to black protest. But when white people massacred black protesters Sharpeville in 1960, Mandela started a sabotage campaign. In jail he become the symbol of freedom in the black struggle that has no forced de Klerk's government to renounce apartheid.
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