South African Official Demands Explanation for Murder Charges Against Miners

Prosecutors attempting to blame miners for deadly police shooting

South Africa's justice minister Friday challenged the top prosecutor's decision to charge 270 miners with the murders and attempted murders of 112 striking co-workers shot by the police, a development that indicates more divisions in the government over the killings that shocked the nation.

The National Prosecuting Authority's decision to charge the arrested miners under an apartheid-era law leaves the government open to accusations that it is acting like the former brutal white rulers. It appeared to be an attempt to shift the blame for the shootings from the police to the miners.