This Day in History: 12 June 1964
At the conclusion of the Rivonia trial eight of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Pretoria Supreme Court. The eight were Nelson Mandela, the central figure in the trial, along with Dennis Goldberg, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, James Kantor, Andrew Mlangeni, Elias Motsoaledi and Raymond Mhlaba. Mandela argued that he was driven to acts of sabotage because all legitimate means of protest were denied to him, but his argument was rejected by Mr Justice de Wet. Since the State had not charged the accused with High Treason, the Judge did not impose the supreme penalty.