Kenyan-South African physician and union leader (born 1953)

Neil Aggett

Neil Hudson Aggett was a Kenyan and South African doctor and trade union organiser who died in detention, after being held for 70 days without trial, during which he was tortured by the Security Branch of the apartheid government's South African Police Service. An initial inquest carried out in 1982 cleared the police, but after continued and increased pressure by his sister Jill Burger, partner Liz Floyd, activists, and supporters, a second inquest was held by the High Court in 2020, ruling in December 2022 that Aggett did not die by suicide as claimed, but was killed by members of the Security Branch.

Born

Died

1982

Era

Country

About

Neil, in brief

Neil Hudson Aggett was a Kenyan and South African doctor and trade union organiser who died in detention, after being held for 70 days without trial, during which he was tortured by the Security Branch of the apartheid government's South African Police Service. An initial inquest carried out in 1982 cleared the police, but after continued and increased pressure by his sister Jill Burger, partner Liz Floyd, activists, and supporters, a second inquest was held by the High Court in 2020, ruling in December 2022 that Aggett did not die by suicide as claimed, but was killed by members of the Security Branch.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

  1. 1982 Died

Also on February 5

What else happened on this day, through history

See all of February 5 →

The world in 1982

When Neil departed

Read the year 1982 →

Keep going

More to explore