For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Daniel Radcliffe stars as inmate Tim Jenkin in new film 'Escape To Pretoria' about the famous South African prison break in 1979, The film is set during the during the Apartheid era in Capetown, South Africa, The Pretoria Central Prison divided up prisoners depending on their race, Its gallows, which are left untouched today, could end the lives of seven at once, Sitting on his bed in his jail cell, Tim realised he could fashion a key to unlock the door, Tim was sentenced to 12 years behind bars for supporting Nelson Mandela's ANC, His friend Stephen Lee received eight years for his political "terrorism" fighting apartheid, Once Tim had cracked the third door, inmate Alexis Moumbaris, pictured, joined the escape effort, After leaving South Africa via Tanzania, the pair - now in their 70s - settled in the UK, New Amazon Prime documentary explores the case of Oscar Pistorius who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, Inside audacious Escape From Pretoria where prisoners fled hellhole jail by carving wooden keys for ELEVEN metal doors, Kate and Rio Ferdinand had 'heated' rows over her pregnancy that ended in tears as she thought he 'didn't care', Ed Sheeran reveals wife Cherry 'had a tumour' that could only be treated after birth of 2nd baby as he announces album, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Here they met Oliver Tambo and Alfred Nzo, President and Secretary-General of the ANC respectively, and gave a press conference on 2 January 1980. Starring Daniel Radcliffe as a jailed anti-apartheid activist, this true-life prison-break thriller is stronger on genre mechanics than political nuance. [Part 1: Intro] South Africa is a beautiful country and home to many unique languages and cultures, such as the Afrikaner (or Boer). [15] Both of them and Lee felt throughout the sooner they got out, the greater the chances of being discovered; the others warned against impatience but agreed the participants should as far as possible be in control.[16]. The film Escape from Pretoria was based on Tim Jenkins' book Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Central Prison. He is best known for his 1979 escape from Pretoria Local Prison (part of the Pretoria Central Prison complex), along with Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris. My heart was racing. United Nations High Commission for Refugees, "Press Conference by O. R. Tambo, Introducing Alexandre Moumbaris, Stephen Lee and Timothy Jenkin who Escaped from Prison in South Africa", "Ambassador Molekane receives stalwart of the apartheid struggle Alex Moumbaris at the SA Embassy", "Media Statement by the Chancellor of the National Orders and Director-General in the Presidency, Dr. Cassius Lubisi, at the Union Buildings, Pretoria", "Daniel Radcliffe to Star in Prison-Break Drama 'Escape From Pretoria', "Sam Neill joins Daniel Radcliffe in 'Escape From Pretoria', "Adelaide transformed into apartheid-era Cape Town for Escape From Pretoria filming", "Daniel Radcliffe touches down in Adelaide for new movie", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alex_Moumbaris&oldid=1101678249, All Wikipedia articles written in South African English, Articles containing potentially dated statements from July 2017, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 August 2022, at 07:50. The casting of Daniel Radcliffe as Jenkin lends it some marquee appeal, but this still feels like efficient VOD fodder, sure to age as memorably as Stander, that other blandly internationalized biographical romp pulled from the same passage of South African history. [11] In March 1976 Lee went to Johannesburg to look for work, and the ANC coincidentally sent them both on their first mission, to disperse leaflets urging support for the ANC via a leaflet bomb (using a new design developed by Jenkin) in Johannesburg, close to the anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March. We got through the nine doors and then at the final door, we found we couldnt open the lock. [21], Along with Lee, Jenkin was charged with "producing and distributing 18 different pamphlets on behalf of banned organisations" including the South African Communist Party, the ANC and its armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, from 1975 to 1978, and urging people to join the liberation movement. [16][17][18][19], They were taken to Caledon Square Police Station, the head office of the Security Branch in Cape Town, where they were separated, interrogated and put into cells, without being informed of the charges or their rights. Locked up in a maximum-security jail for leaflets against apartheid, they embarked on one of the most audacious escapes in history. Timothy Peter Jenkin (born 1948) is a South African writer, former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. [2] He worked for about nine years before becoming involved with the ANC [3] as one of the "London Recruits". It was suspected South African agents may have raided the home for documents to use in Moumbaris' trial. But as Stephen would soon find out on a vital reconnaissance trip to the dentist, there were still a total of 10 doors separating them from freedom. [2] Goldberg and the others decided to withdraw from the escape, with Goldberg continuing to be involved in the preparations. Here, Jenkin met his future wife Robin. While their revolutionary deeds helped to change the course of history, their prison escape was that which garnered them real fame. [33][34], In May 2017, it was announced that production would start on a film of Jenkin's book, produced by David Barron and starring Daniel Radcliffe as Jenkin and Ian Hart as Goldberg. [7] A new edition was published in Johannesburg and London as Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison in 2003. Escape from Pretoria airs on Saturday, 4 July, at 20:00 on TNT (DStv 137) We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred. We had . Speaking to Metro.co.uk about learning the news Radcliffe would be portraying him, Jenkin (who was sentenced to 12 years in prison) said the A-list casting came as a surprise. The video features excerpts from interviews with Jenkin, Lee, Moumbaris and Goldberg filmed in 2012, in between re-enacted scenes of the prison escape. The French Communist Party published a press release in his support on 20 May 2011. [7], Jenkin and Lee appeared at a press conference in Lusaka with Oliver Tambo on 2 January 1980 to tell their stories,[25] before moving to London, where Jenkin worked as a research officer for the International Defence and Aid Fund. I got a piece of paper and, using a knife, pressed it into the lock. They were sent to Pretoria Central Prison - since renamed Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area - where prisoners were divided up depending on their race. Undeterred, Tim said: From the very first day, we started to collect intelligence about possible escape routes.. At the time it was the site of the countrys capital punishment regime (which was abolished in 1995), and housed its death row. A massive police operation was launched to recapture the convicts, but by that time Stephen and Tim were on their way out of South Africa, to safety in the UK. After that they made it to Mozambique, Angola, and then on to Europe. It's not intended as a compliment: "The most deluded of them all," the warden adds, lest it be taken as such. On arrival at Pretoria, a jail for white political prisoners, both men were so focused on escaping they even asked relatives to smuggle in money for taxi fares once they broke out. This time they came up with a plan to leave dummies in their beds, sneak downstairs, hide in a cupboard and wait for the warder to go upstairs. All of them imprisoned for underground work on behalf of the . He signalled his wish to be included in any possible escape plan to Jenkin even before the idea was presented to him, after Jenkin had mentioned he and Lee had brought some money into prison. . But we got away with it.. After Lee's father brought him a copy of the book Papillon, the book inspired them to seriously consider the prospect of escape and they concentrated on rigorous observations of the world around them. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. It was not until the following morning that the warders realised the three men were missing. In fact, things have been kept so by the book, so to speak, the actors used the actual tool Jenkin and Lee as well as third prisoner Alex Moumbaris employed in their daring escape. [15], At 3am the morning of 2 March 1978, Jenkin and Lee were both arrested, after being seen moving their printing equipment into their own dwelling. Goldberg distracted the warden while the three made their escape. But he needed to create another one to make it into the next part of the prison. "I wanted to run but we just kept walking to the railway station, where we used our money to get in a taxi," Stephen said. This was going to let us out of the cells into the corridor.. Characterization takes a distant back seat to the ingenious practicalities of the mission itself. The movie begins with their early days spent planting harmless pamphlet bombs across Cape Town, before plunging us into the tepid everyday life of political prisoners. Each night after lights went out, the trio sneaked out of their cells - once Tim had used the first key to unlock them all - to try and get through an extra door. Jenkin hatches a plan to whittle wooden facsimiles of the keys to every door separating them from the outside world an almost naively simple scheme that necessitates a complex network of hiding places and bluffs, as vindictive guards begin to suspect something is afoot. On December 11th, 1979, three white activists, Tim Jenkin, Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris, escaped from Pretoria Central Prison. Upon legal advice, both pleaded guilty to all charges. This was legal under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, which allowed detention without trial for up to 60 days, and was extendable. There were numerous gates, many metal grill doors. The pair, who are both now in their 70s, settled in north London, with Tim eventually relocating to Johannesburg years later. Jenkin had smuggled some money into prison. Adams workaday screenplay, the actors signature anxious-earnest mien is leaned on a lot here, as is his overly explanatory voiceover, which provides a broad primer on apartheid for any uninformed viewers, along with a reminder that freedom and equality should be fought for at all costs.. Again Tims ingenuity was tested. It was hugely emotional, Stephen recalls. After months of meticulous surveillance, breath-taking ingenuity, and in a race against time as the authorities strengthen the prison security defenses, the group craft wooden keys for each of the 10 steel doors separating them from the main door and freedom. After his brainwave about fashioning a lock for his cell door while lying on his bunk bed, Tim felt confident the plan would work. Door five and six were near the night wardens office, so they hatched a plan to leave dummies made from boiler suits stuffed with sheets in their beds so they could hide in a cupboard while he went to check on their cells. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. The third prisoner in this true story was in fact Alexandre Moumbaris, Egyptian born of Greek heritage who grew up in Australia and was raised in the UK. Dirigida por Francis Annan y con Daniel Radcliffe en el papel principal, est basada en el libro que el mismo Jenkin escribi relatando la horrible experiencia vivida poco antes de los 80, cuando fue apresado. Moumbaris, unlike the two other men, was at Pretoria Prison since 1973. But fortunately the metal of the keyhole marked where it was getting jammed, meaning Tim could accurately file it down to size. They caught us with printing equipment. There was also a six-metre high barbed-wire perimeter fence. It was a victory over the system., Escape From Pretoria is released in UK cinemas on Friday, March 6, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. The ol razzle dazzle where his journey looks nothing like how it has been portrayed on screen, In a way the real story is even more exciting, its just too long to fit into the 100 minutes, so theyve taken license to summaries a whole lot of events into one. People said how can you make keys out of wood, they wouldnt be strong enough, but when we broke them up it was quite a mission, we had to use the chisel.. Lying on his bunk one night, he gazed at the lock in front of him and had a flash of inspiration. Stephen and Tim began devising ways to break out as soon as they arrived. The system was never cracked and helped the ANC coordinate in the run up to Nelson Mandela's release from prison. Moumbaris was charged under the Terrorism Act in January 1973. After hundreds of days of looking at the keys, he commits their shape to memory and successfully makes replicas for all nineteen doors that lead to the main gate of the prison. We use cookies and similar tools that are . 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Breakout, exclusive to National Geographic Channel, Fridays, 9pm. Given the limited backstory filled in by Annan and L.H. Lee made an escape attempt and nearly succeeded. He is known for his political activism against the apartheid rgime in South Africa in the 1970s, and his subsequent incarceration in, and 1979 escape from, Pretoria Local . why is alex moumbaris not in escape from pretoriavsters friluftsomrde. It was December 11, 1979, 18 months after our conviction, Stephen says. Sketchy as it is on human details, Escape from Pretoria gets by on such practical nuts and bolts. The first to get out of the toughest jail in South Africa, Stephen and Tim earned renown with a borderline genius hack. The last 30-odd years have seen such a wealth of diverse, resonant personal histories emerge from the ashes of apartheid not least that of the actual, not-white Mandela that " Escape from. [5] As Marie-Jos was pregnant at the time and under pressure from the French ambassador, she was not charged but instead deported back to France[3] after four months. We got through the nine doors and then at the final door, we found we couldnt open the lock. "After that I took a chance and took the parts we needed, including a file, back to my cell in a Thermos flask.. Tim, the technical expert of the pair, had devised a way of scattering banned leaflets by using explosive linked to a timer and detonator inside a carrier bag. folktandvrden karlskoga flyttar . "You get back to your cell and youd think, 'OK, its over, I can relax' but you couldnt.". How does one who is an activist, not a locksmith even begin to fashion keys with no knowledge of the mechanisms? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He moved frequently around the country while growing up and went to school predominantly in . Alexandre Moumbaris is a political activist and former political prisoner. Alex Moumbaris was born in Egypt to Greek parents and grew up in Australia. They were very big locks so you could see the marks on the inside. As Stephen explained in a previous interview with The Daily Mail, he came up with the solution to end all of their woes during a lonely, quiet night in his prison cell. It couldnt be reached by his cell, so he had to gradually fit that second key to size doing stints cleaning the corridor during prisoners' chore times. Tim and Stephen were hauled off to a special "European" section called "The Local" for white inmates which housed up to 22. . We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. When the night came, Denis Goldberg, a political prisoner who would serve 22 years, distracted the guards. Escape From Pretoria premiered on March 4, 2020. I started to carve a few little pieces of wood, one for the shaft and one for the bit of the key, Tim told National Geographic. [20], In Paris, Moumbaris organised the opening of the ANC office in 1981[21] and continued to assist the struggle against apartheid in various ways, including recruiting comrades for missions in South Africa for MK. There was only one guard on duty and he was chatting to Denis. The pair ended up behind bars in the South African city of Tshwane in 1979 due to their roles as white supporters of Nelson Mandelas then-banned African National Congress (ANC). The only languages allowed to be spoken during visits were the two "official" languages, English and Afrikaans, but as Boris only spoke French and was deemed too young to be a security risk, allowed them to converse in French. SLOUCHED on his bed in the small, dingy cell of the notorious jail where he was destined to spend the next 12 years, Tim Jenkin had a flash of inspiration. The jaw-dropping story of how two men broke out of the infamous maximum-security Pretoria Prison - and eventually on to the UK - has been given the Hollywood treatment in new blockbuster 'Escape From Pretoria', starring Daniel Radcliffe as Tim. Banished to the vast prison complex of Pretoria, the countrys administrative capital, Jenkin and Lee are protectively counseled by veteran liberal political prisoner Denis Goldberg (British veteran Ian Hart, giving the character a geezer-y air), who advises them to keep their heads down and to serve their time with dignity as prisoners of conscience. The youngsters, countering that they are instead prisoners of war, immediately set about an escape plan regardless. The escape preparations brought some differences of opinion amongst the political prisoners, but they remained comrades and all contributed in some way to the escape effort. 'Escape from Pretoria' will . Tim's door was just the beginning. 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