On the Fact that Nelson Mandela Was Ultimately Convicted in 1964 of 156 Counts of Terrorism and Treason

In any other African country he would have been lined up against a wall and shot (or maybe decapitated) without a trail. The fact of the matter is that this fellow was given a break by the South African government in that they a) gave him a reasonable trial (even Amnesty International stated so at the time), b) spared his life, and c) even offered him an early release (the only stipulation being that he renounce violence - he balked and even then was only given house arrest). And what they fucking supposed to do, cave in to his terrorist demands and let the communists (which was about as far from an indigenous movement as possible) take over?