Dov Rosenberg
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Steven Biko's supporters have always believed he was the victim of a police cover-up.  The South African Truth Commission hearings into the death of the black consciousness leader, Steven Biko, have reopened the controversy about the circumstances surrounding his mysterious death.

Mr. Biko died of head wounds in police custody on September 12, 1977.  The police first claimed he died from a hunger strike, but later changed their story to say that he hit his head against a wall in a scuffle.  Mr. Biko's supporters believe he was murdered and that the police are still trying to cover it up.  The five policemen blamed for his death have been seeking amnesty from The Truth Commission, which investigates human rights abuses during Apartheid.

Earlier this year, the policemen admitted to beating Steven Biko severely near the date of his death but they essentially stuck to the story that his death was an accident.   Mr. Biko’s family strongly opposes the Truth Commission's decision to conduct the hearing. They argue that the Truth Commission’s power to give amnesty could rob the victims' relatives of justice.  After a day's testimony in September from the chief interrogator who questioned Mr. Biko, Biko’s wife responded, "This is nothing new. He is lying even more now than years ago at the inquest."

Steven Biko, subject of the Denzell Washington film "Cry Freedom", is widely seen as the greatest martyr of the anti-apartheid movement.  His philosophy that political freedom can only be achieved when black people stop feeling inferior to whites attracted great international attention and is considered to be the turning point in the ending of apartheid.  Born in 1946 in Eastern Cape, Mr. Biko quickly became involved in black politics.  He gave up studying medicine to devote himself to the struggle against Apartheid and founded the Black Consciousness Movement in 1969.

The South African government first acted against Biko in 1973 by restricting his movements and preventing him from being quoted in the news.  Later he was arrested and jailed several times without being charged until Port Elizabeth police arrested him for the last time in August 1977.  One question that may be posed during the hearings is: who encouraged the police to act in the manner that they did? Many believe blame may lie with the Minister of Justice at the time Jimmy Kruger, now dead, who sent waves of outrage through the world with his comment "Biko's death leaves me cold."