gov29. Letter from Margaret Thatcher to Robert Hughes

Six leaders of the United Democratic Front and the South African Indian Congress entered the British consulate in Durban to avoid detention by the South African authorities in 1984. Three of them were immediately detained on leaving the consulate. This letter from Prime Minister Thatcher to the AAM’s Chair Bob Hughes MP defended the British government’s decision to bar access to the lawyers of the remaining three men. Five of the six were charged with high treason.