Mesmo que Biko nunca tenha sido um membro do Congresso Nacional
Africano (ANC), foi incluído no seu panteão dos heróis de luta, indo tão
longe como a utilização da sua imagem para cartazes de campanha nas
primeiras eleições não-raciais da África do Sul, em 1994. Nelson
Mandela disse a respeito de Biko: "Tiveram que matá-lo para prolongar a
vida do apartheid".
On 18 August 1977, Biko was arrested at a police
roadblock under the
Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 and interrogated by officers of the
Port Elizabeth security police including
Harold Snyman and
Gideon Nieuwoudt.
This interrogation took place in the Police Room 619 of the Sanlam
Building in Port Elizabeth. The interrogation lasted twenty-two hours
and included torture and beatings resulting in a coma. He suffered a
major head injury while in police custody at the Walmer Police Station,
in a suburb of Port Elizabeth, and was chained to a window grille for a
day.
On 11 September 1977, police loaded him in the back of a
Land Rover, naked and restrained in manacles, and began the 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) drive to
Pretoria
to take him to a prison with hospital facilities. He was nearly dead
owing to the previous injuries. He died shortly after arrival at the
Pretoria prison, on 12 September. The police claimed his death was the
result of an extended
hunger strike,
but an autopsy revealed multiple bruises and abrasions and that he
ultimately succumbed to a brain hemorrhage from the massive injuries to
the head, which many saw as strong evidence that he had been brutally
clubbed by his captors. Then
Donald Woods, a journalist, editor and close friend of Biko's, along with
Helen Zille, later leader of the
Democratic Alliance political party, exposed the truth behind Biko's death.
Because of his high profile, news of Biko's death spread quickly,
publicizing the repressive nature of the apartheid government. His
funeral was attended by over 10,000 people, including numerous
ambassadors and other diplomats from the United States and Western
Europe. Donald Woods, who photographed his injuries in the morgue as
proof of police abuse, was later forced to flee South Africa for
England. Woods later campaigned against apartheid and further publicised
Biko's life and death, writing many newspaper articles and authoring
the book,
Biko, which was later turned into the film
Cry Freedom. Speaking at a National Party conference following the news of Biko's death then–minister of police,
Jimmy Kruger
said, "I am not glad and I am not sorry about Mr. Biko. It leaves me
cold (Dit laat my koud). I can say nothing to you ... Any person who
dies ... I shall also be sorry if I die."
After a 15-day inquest in 1978, a magistrate judge found there was not
enough evidence to charge the officers with murder because there were
no eyewitnesses. On 2 February 1978, based on the evidence given at the inquest, the attorney general of the
Eastern Cape
stated he would not prosecute. On 28 July 1979, the attorney for
Biko's family announced that the South African government would pay
them $78,000 in compensation for Biko's death.
The
Truth and Reconciliation Commission,
which was created following the end of minority rule and the apartheid
system, reported that five former members of the South African
security forces who had admitted to killing Biko were applying for
amnesty. Their application was rejected in 1999.
On 7 October 2003, the South African justice ministry announced that
the five policemen accused of killing Biko would not be prosecuted
because the time limit for prosecution had elapsed and because of
insufficient evidence.
A year after his death, some of his writings were collected and released under the title
I Write What I Like.
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