The South African Communist Party (SACP) has welcomed the North Gauteng High Court judgment in the Ahmed Timol inquest, which concluded that the anti-apartheid activist was murdered.

Judge Billy Mothle handed down the ruling on Thursday saying, “Timol didn’t meet his death through suicide, he met it through murder”.

On Thursday, the High Court concluded that Timol died after he was assaulted, tortured and pushed out of the window on the tenth floor or from the roof of John Vorster Square Police Station.

The SACP said the judgment was an affirmation of the truth that it had always believed.

In 1971 police claimed that Timol jumped out of a window on the tenth floor of John Vorster Square in Johannesburg, now Johannesburg Central Police Station, while he was in detention.

Timol’s death was ruled a suicide in 1972, but a private investigation launched by the Timol family uncovered new evidence which was presented to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The NPA agreed to reopen the 1972 inquest.

The SACP said it unwaveringly supported the Timol family and would deepen its campaign towards a wider programme to seek justice for all.

“Everyone who was killed by or disappeared at the behest of the apartheid regime must be accounted for. Those who committed the murder must be held accountable in accordance with the rule of law,” said the party in a statement.

SACP spokesperson Alex Mashilo was not immediately available for comment.

Click here to read the judgment.