Issued by: Office of the President
Media reports in one of the weekly newspaper suggesting that President Nelson Mandela had offered to give evidence in support of Dr Allan Boesak in his pending trial are untrue.
Although President Nelson Mandela had privately met Dr Allan Boesak last weekend, the issue of the President giving evidence did not arise at all in the meeting.
President Mandela has extended his moral support to Dr Allan Boesak during this difficult moment in his life; both because of the contribution he has made in the anti-apartheid struggle, and the universal principle of the presumption of innocence until a person is proven guilty, which governs the administration of justice in any democracy.
Issued by the Office of the President 20 March 1997
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