FORMED IN NEW YORK
NEW YORK, Feb, 26 -- Officers and original sponsors announce the formation of the Alexander Defense Committee. Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Maxwell Geismar, Horace Kallen, John 0. Killens, Slator King, and Staughton Lynd have invited other prominent men and women of various political beliefs: to join them as sponsors of the Committee in aiding the defense of Dr.: ‘Neville Alexander and other political prisoners in South Africa.
Arrested in July 1963 and held without charges until November under the "Ninety Days Detention Act," Dr. Alexander and his friends, although never accused of having committed any overt act of sabotage, were convicted under the notorious sabotage law. The prosecution attempted to prove only that they had met to explore possible methods of conducting the struggle against apartheid and had read and discussed Marxist literature and works on guerrilla warfare. For these ‘crimes, five of the defendants, including Dr. Alexander, were sentenced to ten years imprisonment, while the others received sentences ranging from five to. seven years. Since their conviction, the male prisoners have been held in the infamous cancentration camp on Robben Island. After more than a year of delay, an appeal will be heard before the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein on March 2.
Action by -individuals and organizations in West Germany, where Dr. Alexander studied and is well known in academic circles, England, Ireland, Japan, and Algeria has already brought widespread support for the defendants. Rolf Hochhuth, Theodor Adorno, Bertrand Russell, Isaac Deutscher, and C.L.R.James are among the thousands who have sought. to aid these victims of South African "justice." Through their efforts, the costs of the March 2 appeal have been met,
Provisional officers of the Committee are: Paul B.. Boutelle, Chairman; Robert H. Langston, Executive Secretary; Berta Green, Cor-
responding Secretary; and Dave Dellinger, Treasurer. In addition to raising money for legal defense and to sid the victims' families, the Committee will conduct an intensive educational campaign and will organize demonstrations to protest the savagery of the increasingly fasciste-like South African regime,
Whatever the outcome of the March 2 appeal, the need for international support to opponents of apartheid will remain great. ».The Committee urges all who are in sympathy with the world-wide struggle for human dignity, who detest racial discrimination and national oppression, who desire to see civil and political liberties strengthened and extended throughout the world to join in | Suppor’ of the Commit= tee's work,
Contributions and correspondence should be sent to: Alexander Defense Committee, P.O.Box 545, Canal Street Station, New York, N.Y. 10013.