pic7408. Good Friday vigil, 1974

AAM supporters held a 24-hour vigil on the steps of St Martin’s in the Fields on Good Friday, 11–12 April 1974 to call for the release of all South African political prisoners. They collected over 2,500 signatures for a petition to be presented to the UN in June. The vigil and petition were part of the campaign launched by Southern Africa the Imprisoned Society (SATIS) at its founding conference in December 1973. In the photograph are Kay Hosey, mother of political prisoner Sean Hosey, and Rev Paul Oestreicher.