Ahmed Timol

Ahmed Timol
Born(1941-11-03)3 November 1941
Breyten, Transvaal, Union of South Africa
Died27 October 1971(1971-10-27) (aged 29)
John Vorster Square, Johannesburg, South Africa
OccupationTeacher
Known forAnti-apartheid activism
HonoursOrder of Luthuli (silver)

Ahmed Timol (3 November 1941 – 27 October 1971) was an anti-apartheid activist in the underground South African Communist Party. He died at the age of 29 from injuries sustained when he fell from the top floor of John Vorster Square police station in Johannesburg.[1] Police claimed, and an official inquest confirmed, that Timol had committed suicide by jumping out the window.[2] The claim was widely disbelieved in anti-apartheid circles, and in the movement Timol's death became symbolic of the broader phenomenon of deaths in police custody, as well as of the abuses and dishonesty of the apartheid state.[3][4]

In 2017, the inquest into Timol's death was reopened. It found that Timol had been tortured in custody and had fallen from the window because he was pushed by police officers, not because he jumped.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Inquest judgement". Historical Papers Research Archive (in Afrikaans). Wits University. 22 June 1972. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Heroes of yesterday and today". Weekend Argus. 12 December 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  4. ^ Thomas, Kylie (3 July 2021). "Digital Visual Activism: Photography and the Re-Opening of the Unresolved Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cases in Post-Apartheid South Africa". Photography and Culture. 14 (3): 297–318. doi:10.1080/17514517.2021.1927370. hdl:10468/14201. ISSN 1751-4517. S2CID 237518037.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).