The late Nelson Mandela is remembered as one of the world’s most important political figures.
He became president of South Africa in the early 1990s, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for bringing an end to apartheid.
Even now, his life’s work is continually honoured by an annual day devoted to him: Nelson Mandela Day.
Of course, many people know that Mandela spent more than two decades of his life behind bars.
But what did the South African revolutionary get convicted of, and how long was he jailed for?
Why did Nelson Mandela go to prison?
Nelson Mandela, then a lawyer, joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944. The political party and movement fought for an end to apartheid in South Africa.
Its aim was to give Black South Africans the same rights and freedoms as white people, and unite the country under democratic leadership.
In 1956, he and 156 other people (including many ANC members), went on trial for treason. Ultimately, they were found not guilty.
Despite attempting peaceful means of protest, the killing of 69 people by police during a 1960 rally – now known as the Sharpeville Massacre – led to a serious decline in relations with the National Party, then running the South African government.
In April that year, the ANC was outlawed, and subsequently it formed a military unit, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation).
In 1961, Mandela organised a General Strike of non-white workers against the government – for whom they had no right to vote under the oppressive laws of apartheid – which was illegal. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and he lived as an outlaw.
It was the following year that Mandela secretly left South Africa in order to attend the Conference of the Pan African Freedom Movement in the capital of Ethiopia. However, the act of leaving South Africa without permission was illegal, too.
On returning to South Africa, he was arrested for leaving without a permit and inciting workers to strike.
He faced additional charges of sabotage, for which he faced the death penalty. During the trial – known as the Rivonia Trial – he gave a poignant speech saying he was ready to die for the cause.
Unforgettably, Mandela said: ‘I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.
‘It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’
At a Pretoria court, Mandela was sentenced to life in prison on June 12, 1964.
How long did Nelson Mandela serve in prison?
Mandela served 27 years total in prison.
He was first imprisoned at Robben Island for 18 years, from 1964 until 1982.
Robben Island was a maximum security prison which held both political prisoners, including many other anti-apartheid campaigners, as well as criminals.
The defunct jail is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for having three South African presidents (including Mandela) as former inmates.
In 1982, Mandela was transferred to Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison, and later Victor Verster Prison (now Drakensfield Correctional Centre) in South Africa’s Western Cape.
The Free Nelson Mandela campaign kicked off in 1980 – started by South African political and anti-apartheid activist Oliver Tambo – and was embraced across the world.
Mandela’s fateful release happened 10 years later, on Sunday, February 11, 1990.
He was later quoted as saying: ‘As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.’
In 1991, he became the ANC’s president. Three years later in 1994, Mandela became South Africa’s president in its first free, fairly-voted election, and served a term of five years.
He died in Johannesburg in 2013, at the age of 95.
MORE : 19 great Nelson Mandela quotes that helped change the world
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