The World - News from May 25, 1989

Two white South Africans were hanged for murder, but lawyers won a last-minute stay of execution for two black political activists. A spokesman for the South African group Lawyers for Human Rights said Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee issued the stays to allow lawyers to present new evidence. The two black men were convicted of the “necklace” killing--in which a gasoline-filled tire is placed around the victim’s neck and set afire--of a black police officer. The two white men who were hanged were convicted in separate cases of murder and robbery.