A cousin visited Maree at Odi and reported to Maree's sons and daughters that their father was in good spirits, although tuberculosis was rife and food scarce in the prison.
Maree, 55, has dual citizenship in the United States and South Africa.
Since The Inquirer reported on Maree's plight, a grassroots campaign to aid him has burgeoned. Maree's sons, Daniel and Pele, are spearheading the group that is made up of lawyers, consultants, academics, and friends.
This campaign, Free Sydney Maree, soon will have a landing page on the Internet, organizers said.
One of the lawyers, civil rights attorney Brian Wiley, was a runner in high school. He followed Villanova's legendary running program that featured Maree.
"He always had a quiet dignity about him, the way he ran with intensity and focus," Wiley said. "He was still always a gentleman. It was at the end, reading through the article, my jaw dropped. I learned that he had become an American citizen, that he had been a powerhouse in the economic redevelopment for an impoverished country, and that he had been tossed into jail without even fundamental due process like a speedy trial. The article went on to point out that there were more questions than answers."
Wiley immediately called the American consulate in Durban and Johannesburg.
Wiley and Tommy Cassidy, a Villanova graduate, are donating their legal services to the case. The pair have a three-pronged strategy aimed at securing Maree's early release.
The crux of the approach will be pushing for Maree's "early humanitarian release," which the South African government granted to Nelson Mandela in 1990.
