S. Africa Bans on Protests, Arrest Appeals Overruled

A Supreme Court justice today overturned emergency regulations that prohibited protests and appeals on behalf of people detained without charge.

The ruling by Natal province Supreme Court Justice R. N. Leon was the second major legal blow in five days to the government’s state of emergency restrictions on news reporting and opposition activity.

On Friday, a separate Supreme Court panel in Natal overturned prohibitions on reporting about unrest and security force action.

The regulations rejected by Leon were imposed April 10 by Police Commissioner Johan Coetzee, immediately prompting protests and threats of defiance from opposition politicians and clergymen. The rules banned any public appeals for the release of detainees.

Clarification Issued

The subsequent outcry by opposition politicians and by clergy prompted Coetzee to issue a clarification saying prayers for detainees were permitted.

The court challenge of the regulations was filed by three anti-apartheid groups--the Release Mandela Campaign, the Detainees Parents Support Committee and the Black Sash.

In ruling that the regulations were no longer in force, Leon gave the government permission to appeal.

The government also plans to appeal Friday’s ruling, but lawyers have advised that meanwhile the prohibitions against reporters being at the scene of unrest and bans on photographers taking pictures of unrest were nullified.

Proclamation Nullified

Leon also nullified part of a proclamation issued by the government last December broadening the definition of “subversive statements” outlawed under the emergency regulations.

The section Leon struck down gave the police commissioner complete discretion to expand the definition of subversive statements beyond those specified in the regulations.

The Detainees Parents Support Committee said in a statement that it was pleased by Leon’s ruling but was “under no illusion about the ultimate intentions of the government to suppress all forms of protest against its policies.”

Police Use Whips

Leon’s ruling came as police in Cape Town used whips today to disperse demonstrators during a second day of violence at the University of Cape Town.

A major highway adjacent to the campus was closed to traffic for more than two hours this afternoon during the unrest, which followed a meeting of about 3,000 students and a march across university grounds.

During today’s meeting, called to discuss police action Monday, students voted to boycott classes through Wednesday.

Hundreds of black and white students rioted Monday at the university to protest South Africa’s weekend raid on alleged African National Congress guerrilla targets in Zambia. (Story, Page 11.)