LetsTravelRome

Detention at Rome airport upsets Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

11 November 2005

JOHANNESBURG - Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the controversial former wife of Nelson Mandela has demanded an apology from Italian authorities following her detention at an airport in Rome on Thursday, South African media reported on Friday.

A spokesman for Madikizela-Mandela told a radio station, the 71-year-old political activist was held for 45 minutes at Fumicione airport without explanation. She was later released “without an apology” despite the fact that her travel documents were in order, Udo Froese told the Johannesburg-based 702 radio station.

Madikizela was en route to Sardinia to attend an international conference on culture and mediation as an invited guest speaker, he said. The outspoken anti-apartheid veteran who was convicted of fraud and theft recently, was travelling with a delegation that included her daughter Zinzi.

posted by Les Sheppard @ 11:19 AM