S. Africa Frees Church Leader
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Police today freed the general secretary of the Presbyterian Church of South Africa, a Swiss citizen held without charge for nine months under Pretoria’s state of emergency.
The Rev. Jean Francois Bill was released under undisclosed restrictions. Bill, who holds a South African passport, was detained without charge a week after President Pieter W. Botha imposed a nationwide state of emergency last June 12 to curb racial unrest. Police reportedly suspected that he was linked to the black community violence that prompted the clampdown.
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