News In Brief

South African official fined in unlawful arrest of 3 blacks

A South African court ordered Law and Order Minister Louis Le Grange to pay a total of $1,000 to three black women who were unlawfully arrested while attending a memorial service near Johannesburg. They were part of a crowd of 200 people arrested 14 months ago and held in a police station for nine hours before being released without charge. Policemen told the Rand Supreme Court they felt the service had developed into a political meeting furthering the aims of the outlawed African National Congress, the main guerrilla group fighting white minority rule here. The judge also ordered the minister to pay couty costs.