{"web": "<p>In mid-1962, the US CIA found out where Mandela was and how he was disguised and tipped off the South African police force. He was arrested and charged with leading a strike in 1961 and leaving the country without permission. He was jailed for five years. Two years into his prison term, he was further charged with sabotage and crimes equivalent to treason, which Mandela admitted, and his prison term was extended for what would turn out to be 27 years in prison. At the conclusion of the trail, known as the Rivona Trial, Mandela was allowed to make a statement prior to sentencing. It was one of the most potent speeches he made. It ends with the famous statement:\n</p>\n<p>\"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die\"\n</p>\n<p>Mandela was moved to prison in Robben Island, where he remained for the next eighteen years. He performed hard labour in a lime quarry and lived a very harsh life. Prisoners were segregated along racial lines. Non-political prisoners were kept isolated from political prisoners. Very limited rations were provided. He was allowed to receive one visitor and one letter, which was heavily censored, every six months.\n</p>\n<p>In March 1982 Mandela was transferred from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison, along with a number of other senior ANC leaders. Later, the National Party claimed this was to allow discreet contact with the prisoners. Indeed, in early 1985, the South African President P.W. Botha, offered Mandela freedom if he agreed to renounce armed struggle. Mandela refused saying \"What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.\" Over the next few years, the South African government made occasional contact with Mandela to negotiate the future of South Africa, but with little progress. By now, international support of an anti-Apartheid campaign was reaching giddy heights. There were protests throughout the world to free Nelson Mandela. In 1989, P.W.Botha suffered a stroke and was replaced by President F.W. de Klerk, who saw the writing on the wall for white-only government. On 2 February 1990, the ban on the ANC was reversed. Nine days later, Mandela was released from prison, in an event that was televised and broadcast throughout the world.\n</p>\n<p>On the day of his release, he said:\n   \"Our resort to the armed struggle in 1960 with the formation of the military wing of the ANC (Umkhonto we Sizwe) was a purely defensive action against the violence of Apartheid. The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today. We have no option but to continue. We express the hope that a climate conducive to a negotiated settlement would be created soon, so that there may no longer be the need for the armed struggle.\"\n</p>\n<p>He also said his main focus was to bring peace to the black majority and give them the right to vote in both national and local elections.\n</p>", "slide": "<p>Mandela was imprisoned for five years in 1962, convicted of leading a strike the year earlier. Two years later, he was charged with the much more serious crime of sabotage and the jail term was extended. He ended up in jail for twenty seven years. At his trail, he famously said:\n</p>\n<p>\"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die\".\n</p>", "sources": "", "Feedback": "", "title": "The Prison Years (1962 - 1990)"}