A South African judge has ruled in favour of 13 white
right-wing treason defendants who complained they were
being "tortured" by popular music piped into their
prison cells.
Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann told authorities at
Pretoria's C-Max prison to halt in-house radio
broadcasts - but only after the defendants bought
portable radios for other inmates who do enjoy the
music.
"I am of the view the solution is one the authorities
should have found themselves," the South African Press
Association quoted Bertelsmann as saying today.
Last month the 13 defendants, all charged with seeking
to overthrow South Africa's black-led government,
complained that the prison policy of playing radio
stations featuring urban contemporary performers was a
plot to drive them crazy with "black" music.
Lawyers argued that the music was having a "drastic
psychological effect" on their clients, who are among
22 white right-wingers accused of planning bomb
attacks and the assassination of former President
Nelson Mandela.
Bertelsmann said today the prison should make every
effort to protect the prisoners' rights and ordered
the jail to stop the broadcasts "as soon as the
applicants provided radios to those who had
.
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