These 5 Africans spent decades in prison for political reasons

Image of a slave ship U.S. slave Blog

Massavana and Koesaaij

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During the Meermin slave mutiny of 1766, Massavana and Koesaaij were Malagasy slaves who led the uprising aboard the Dutch East India Company’s fleet of slave ships.

After the Malagasy slaves were unshackled due to overcrowding and to lessen the spread of disease.

The slaves were then obliged with working around the ship and entertaining the crew.

After being ordered to clean Madagascan weapons, the slaves then used the spears and other weaponry to overtake the crew of the ship.

Massavana and Koesaaij, which were not the actual names of the slaves but Dutch variations of it were sent to Robben Island in hopes of gaining more information about the uprising.

Massavana died after being in prison for three years, Koesaaij was imprisoned for another 20 years.