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A Political Prisoner Speaks

In Pretoria, on 28 MArch , Bram Fischer told the court: "I am on trial for my political beliefs and for the conduct to which those beliefs drove me. Whatever labels may be attached to the fifteen charges brought against me, they all arise from my having been a member of the Communist Party and from my activities as a member. I engaged upon those activities because I belived that, in the dangerous circumstances which have been created in South Africa, it was my duty to do so.

When a man is on trial for his political beliefs and action, two courses are open to him. He can either confess to his transgressions and plead for mercy or he can justify his beliefs and explain why he acted as he did. Were I to ask for forgiveness today I would betray my cause. That course is not open to me. I believe that what I did was right...

My belief, moreover, is one reason why I have pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought against me. Though I shall deny a number of important allegations made, this Court is aware of the fact that there is much in the State case which has not been contested. Yet, if I am to explain my motives and my actions as I am able, then this Court was entitled to have had before it the witnesses who testified in chief and under cross-examination against me. Some of these, I believe, were fine and oyal persons who have turned traitors to their cause and to their country because of the methods used against them by the State - vicious and inhuman methods. Their evidence may, therefore, in important respects, be unreliable.

There is another and more compelling reason for my plea and why I persist in it. I accept the general rule that fore the protection of a society, laws should be obeyed. But laws themselves become immoral and require the citizen to take part in an organized system of oppression - if only by his silence or apathy - then I believe that a higher duty arises".

Mary Benson, The Sun will Rise

Questions

1. Why is Bram Fischer on trial?
2. Bram Fischer said that when a man is on trial two courses are open to him. Which course did he chose? Justify your answer.
3. Are the witnesses' evidence reliable? Why?
4. If you were Bram Fischer, would you plead guilty and ask for forgiveness, or would you stick to your political beliefs and go to prison?

5. Translate into French: "When a man ................ what I did was right."