Just when you think the world can't possibly get worse, it does.
270 miners charged in co-workers' deaths
South African authorities have charged 270 miners with murder in the killings of 34 fellow workers, even though police are believed to have fired the fatal shots.
Whaaaaaat? Well, in fact, the South African authorities are using a sort of
they made us do it defense. In an ugly throw-back to the Apartheid-era, the miners are being charged under the
common purpose law:
"It's the police who were shooting but they were under attack by the protesters, who were armed, so today the 270 accused are charged with the murders,” Frank Lesenyego, a spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, told the Associated Press.
Daily News / 30 Aug 2012
Because of course, it's always a good idea to blame the victim. This is unbelievably frightening... to now put this massacre at the feet of the miners is breathtaking. Really jaw-dropping insanity.
I mean WTF???????????
Watch out, because this is our world now and those in power (all of them) make it harder and harder for us to act on the truth as we are being buried in bullshit... being forced to accept lie after lie, no matter what we see, no matter what the facts may indicate. One can only wonder how long before police in Oakland or New York City adopt a similar strategy...
This video is amazing... look at it and bear witness; one never knows if it will disappear.
just to rub salt in the wound: lyin Ryan
update: here's a bit more perspective, with the police point of view...
from the New York Times:
... authorities watched warily as the crowd grew more militant. Two police officers were hacked to death, and eight other people were killed in violent clashes. On Aug. 16, the police were given the order to move in... the police said that they tried to chase away the miners with rubber bullets and stun grenades, but that they were forced to resort to live ammunition when the miners surged at them.
snip
Journalists at the scene caught some of the shooting on video and in photographs. The police account, meticulously laid out in a multimedia presentation the day after the clash, has been questioned by witnesses and journalists who have examined the scene and concluded that at least some of the workers were killed in what appeared to be much more suspicious circumstances.