BIKO INQUEST, THE (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television historical drama film is based on the transcripts from the November 1977 inquest into the death in police custody of Steve Biko, a well-known anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. As the program opens, Magistrate Martinus Prins reminds those present that it is not a criminal trial, but simply an inquest to determine if Biko's death was caused by "an act or omission involving an offense by any person." Colonel Peter Johannes Goosen explains that Biko was arrested in August for dispensing pamphlets "encouraging blacks to riot" and taken to a prison in Port Elizabeth. He claims that Biko was kept naked and chained in his cell for weeks on end to prevent any possibility of suicide or escape, though Sidney Kentridge, representing the Biko family, suggests that the interrogators were attempting to humiliate the prisoner before and during questioning. Goosen denies any assault or mistreatment, though states that treatment of prisoners is determined at "his discretion" and is not recorded in an incident book. Major Harold Snyman describes Biko as "aggressive" and denies using any physical "methods of persuasion" during his interrogation, though neither he nor "night nurse" Lieutenant Wilken can explain how Biko sustained the head injury that led to his death on September 12th.
Wilken states that Biko "went berserk" on September 6th when presented with damning sworn statements from his friends and had to be restrained by several officers, but Kentridge angrily points out that all of the statements are in fact dated weeks after Biko's demise. Pathologist Johan David Loubser ascertains that the autopsy showed at least three significant blows to Biko's head that would sure have rendered him unconscious, agreeing that the way in which he was chained makes it extremely improbable that he could have injured himself by running into the wall. Goosen, however, states that he was unaware of any head injury and assumed that Biko, a former medical student, was merely "shamming," or faking his distress, to avoid further interrogation. Dr. Ivor Lang, who was also called to examine Biko, struggles to explain why his report describes the prisoner as being in normal condition, stating that he dismissed his "minor" injuries, including a cut lip, as being the results of his restraints. Kentridge questions why Biko would have bothered "shamming" if he was not being physically interrogated, and Dr. Lang admits that the apparently "unharmed" Biko was in fact incoherent and unwashed, having urinated in the bed to which he was chained.
Dr. Benjamin Tucker confirms that Lang told him that Biko was malingering, and Kentridge notes that Tucker's records inexplicably do not mention the fact that the patient was chained at the time of inspection, an omission he describes as a mere "error." Kentridge, arguing that the records were doctored in order to contradict any claims of mistreatment that Biko might have offered, had he lived, also notes that Tucker did not perform the standard memory tests given to one who may have suffered a stroke, as Goosen suggested. He further demands to know why Goosen summoned multiple doctors and specialists if he believed Biko to be in perfect health, as he claims, and Dr. Colin Hersch confirms that Biko showed clear signs of brain damage, including a lack of a plantar reflex and echolalia, the dazed repetition of words, neither of which could have been faked. Hersch states that the results of a lumbar puncture confirmed blood in the cerebrospinal fluid, again indicating brain damage, though police counsel Van Rensburg argues that Hersch did not stress the seriousness of Biko's condition at the time and is merely "rationalizing" now that he is known to have died shortly thereafter.
Lang admits that he did not check on Biko hourly, as one would do for a stroke victim, and Goosen, still claiming that he believed Biko to be shamming, states that decided to send the prisoner to a prison in Pretoria, 750 miles away, in order to prevent his escape. Tucker confirms that he proclaimed Biko's condition "satisfactory" enough to make the long journey, and Wilken, who traveled to Pretoria as well, states that Biko "slept" for most of the journey without exiting the vehicle to stretch or relieve himself. The Pretoria guards immediately noticed and commented on Biko's dire condition when he arrived, and Kentridge produces a Telex message sent by Goosen describing Biko as being in a "semi-coma" on the journey because of an injury that had been "inflicted," though Goosen argues the semantics of the word and adds that he did not inform Biko's next of kin of his situation because, again, he believed him to be faking. Van Rensburg again asserts that Biko went "berserk" and was somehow fatally injured in the ensuing "fracas," arguing that no one person is to blame for his demise. Kentridge reiterates the wide array of evidence supporting the idea that intentional injuries were inflicted upon Biko on September 6th or 7th, and that the doctors and policemen then deliberately lied in order to cover up his mistreatment and violent interrogation, thus making him the 46th anti-apartheid activist to die in police custody. Nevertheless, Prins decides that the evidence does not prove "an offense by any person" and brings the inquest to a close.
Details
- NETWORK: Showtime
- DATE: 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:42:32
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:07797
- GENRE: Drama, historical
- SUBJECT HEADING: International Collection - United Kingdom; Drama, historical; Legal system and the courts; South Africa - Race relations; Prisoners; Police brutality
- SERIES RUN: Showtime - TV, 1985
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Richard Johnson … Executive Producer
- Cecil Clarke … Producer
- Albert Finney … Director
- Jon Blair … Adapted by
- Norman Fenton … Adapted by
- Michael Aldridge … Cast, Dr. Benjamin Tucker
- Nigel Davenport … Cast, Colonel Peter Johannes Goosen
- Mark Dignam … Cast, Magistrate Martinus Prins
- Albert Finney … Cast, Sidney Kentridge
- Stafford Gordon … Cast, Major Harold Snyman
- Michael Gough … Cast, Professor Johan David Loubser
- Edward Hardwicke … Cast, Professor Proctor
- Paul Jerricho … Cast, Lieutenant Wilken
- Richard Johnson … Cast, Dr. Colin Hersch
- John Standing … Cast, Van Rensburg
- Michael Turner … Cast, Dr. Ivor Ralph Lang
- Mark Jefferis … Cast, Clerk to Kentridge
- Paul Fryer … Cast, Clerk to Vans Rensburg
- Betty Boo Hlela … Cast, Steve Biko's Widow
- Peggy Phango … Cast, Steve Biko's Mother
- Benny Mayer … Cast, Steve Biko's Brother
- Doreen Webster … Cast, Singer
- Alan Field … Cast, Kentridge's Assistant
- Douglas Stark … Cast, Van Rensburg's Assistant
- Roy Seeley … Cast, Assessor
- Colin Thomas … Cast, Assessor
- Paul Howlett … Cast, Clerk of the Court
- Steve Rome … Cast, Stenographer
- Robert Peters … Cast, Orderly
- Len Gibley … Cast, Photographer