Jenkin and Lee - joined by fellow inmate and French national Alex Moumbaris - decide to send the regime a clear message and escape. We started just before the Soweto uprising in 1976 and carried on for three years. They were both found guilty on one charge, with Jenkin receiving a 12-year sentence and Lee eight. Why? 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. We were working in a carpentry workshop and I thought, I wonder if we can make a key out of wood. He also once unfurled an ANC banner from a building in Durban,[5] and was subsequently entrusted with more risky assignments. 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[4], Moumbaris and Marie-Jos were caught while trying to enter South Africa from Botswana in 1972, after a previously-arrested comrade informed on them. 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. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. Escape From Pretoria, the political thriller Annan co-wrote and directed, is based on a 1987 memoir by Tim Jenkin, in which Jenkin relates his 1979 escape from Pretoria Central Prison,. [23], As the plan evolved it became clear that for the escape to be successful it would have to be restricted to three people, who would have to hide in a small closet at one point. Again Tims ingenuity was tested. "You get back to your cell and youd think, 'OK, its over, I can relax' but you couldnt.". While the first step toward freedom might have been exhilarating, it was far from their most momentous achievement. The third partner in the escape, Egyptian-born activist Alex Moumbaris, has been fictionalized as enigmatic Frenchman Leonard (Mark Leonard Winter), who has no discernible history or. 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. Characterization takes a distant back seat to the ingenious practicalities of the mission itself. He escaped with fellow activists Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris. He had been waiting for this sound for several hours every night for two months. But fortunately the metal of the keyhole marked where it was getting jammed, meaning Tim could accurately file it down to size. "After that I took a chance and took the parts we needed, including a file, back to my cell in a Thermos flask.. In September, he and Lee hung a 10-metre-long banner with the words "ANC LIVES" from a high building in the centre of Cape Town, along with a timed device which distributed hundreds of leaflets over the crowds below. Home Office Minister Mark Carlisle said no evidence had been found at that time of South African responsibility for illegal activities, but appropriate action would be taken should it appear. It was dangerous, they did have regular inspections. [2], Moumbaris became involved with the ANC at a time when the organisation had suffered many setbacks. The way Jenkin speaks about the escape is with a sort of whimsy, despite the danger theyd be in if they were caught suppose with 40 years between you and the act, theres been time to reflect. Door three fortunately worked with the same key as the inner cell door. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. [22], In 2013, the story of the prison escape was dramatised in the 7th episode of the 2nd season of Breakout, a television series made by National Geographic TV channel dramatising real-life prison escapes. Escape From Pretoria follows the months-long construction of an escape plan formulated by South African apartheid activists Tim Jenkin, Stephen Lee, and French national Leonard Fontaine (substituted for Egyptian-Australian activist Alex Moumbaris). This led him to learning more about the injustice in his own country. [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. 'Escape from Pretoria' will . Sketchy as it is on human details, Escape from Pretoria gets by on such practical nuts and bolts. So when his key worked, it was momentous. 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. When the night came, Denis Goldberg, a political prisoner who would serve 22 years, distracted the guards. [10], His relationship with the jailers tended towards being outwardly defiant and somewhat aggressive, laughing at new wardens who tried to discipline him. Following the. On December 11th, 1979, three white activists, Tim Jenkin, Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris, escaped from Pretoria Central Prison. Written and directed by Francis Annan, the historical thriller sheds light on how Stephen and Tim managed to defy all expectations and escape from the Pretoria Central Prison. 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. Using an ingenious homemade wooden key attached, like a crankshaft, to the end of a broomstick, Tim had just got through his outer cell door. [24], In May 2017, it was announced 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. Despite the feature film makeover, there is no embellishment of Jenkins recollection in the script, based on his 2003 bookInside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison. Moumbaris was the only non-South African prisoner, and when Jenkin met him, he appeared as "a little aloof". After his brainwave about fashioning a lock for his cell door while lying on his bunk bed, Tim felt confident the plan would work. [19], In 2014 a documentary film called The Vula Connection, about Jenkin and his part in the creation of an ingenious secret communication system that enabled Vula operatives to penetrate South Africa's borders in secret, ultimately smuggling messages to the imprisoned Nelson Mandela, was made by Marion Edmunds. Others were also caught, but they succeeded in infiltrating a number of trained militants. During this time they learnt of the activities of the African National Congress (ANC), which was an illegal organisation in South Africa. 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. Copyright 2023 Distractify. [2] In June 2018, he was received by South African ambassador Rapu Molekane at the embassy in Paris. While Tim - the technical mastermind - was sentenced to 12 years in jail, his friend Stephen got eight years. Once the key was ready to go, they had to work out how to get the door open without the guards noticing. For other inquiries, Contact Us. Boom, the door just slid open, absolutely smoothly, he says. ', Super Mario Bros. 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"The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Lying on his bunk one night, he gazed at the lock in front of him and had a flash of inspiration. A third prisoner, Alex Moumbaris, was brought in to be part of the escape. 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. 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. 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. In the 1990s he and others created an association dedicated to the memory of Joseph Stalin, later dissolved but re-formed, for his role in creating socialism, with free health and education. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. This was going to let us out of the cells into the corridor.. Alexandre Moumbaris is a political activist and former political prisoner. You are the white Mandela, says a ham-faced warden, all but spitting in the face of anti-apartheid activist Tim Jenkin upon his arrival at Pretoria Local Prison in 1978. While their revolutionary deeds helped to change the course of history, their prison escape was that which garnered them real fame. "This was going to let us out of the cells into the corridor," he added. When he finally unlocked his cell door after two whole months of filing, he was overjoyed, Boom this thing just slid open, absolutely smoothly. He was accused of having published, in the Press Newsletter (BIP), the article "Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) 2010", summing up the activities and successes of the BDS campaign during 2010. The real-life Goldberg was much more supportively involved in the prison-break strategy; if the script does him something of a disservice for the purposes of greater narrative friction, thats not the fastest and loosest it plays with facts. [21], In May 2011, Moumbaris was charged with making a "Public call to discrimination" and set to appear in court in Flers, in Normandy. [4], After leaving school, he avoided conscription into the South African Defence Force, and worked at a variety of jobs for two years, with no particular interest in anything except motorcycle racing. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. This was how he knew how long the key needed to be. [4] He had not grown up in a political family, but when in Britain associated with Communists there and he was inspired by the communist resistance to the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. Nick Fentons editing, meanwhile, maintains a keen sense of physical space and strain, not least in one comically queasy scene where a dropped key must be retrieved with the aid of a broomstick and chewing gum. Tim and Stephen were hauled off to a special "European" section called "The Local" for white inmates which housed up to 22. Escape From Pretoria chronicles their journey, shedding new light on how they managed to escape from prison. Messages were typed into a computer, encrypted and saved to audio cassette, then sent from a public callbox to an answering machine. Elated, they moved on to door three, which, incredibly, worked with the same key as the inner cell door. Was that which garnered them real fame night came, Denis Goldberg, political! 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