Suttner was born in
Durban, South Africa. He obtained
BA and LLB degrees from the
University of Cape Town and an inter-disciplinary doctorate (
history,
sociology and
political studies) from the
University of the Witwatersrand in
Johannesburg. During the struggle against apartheid Suttner was in the leadership of the
African National Congress (ANC),
South African Communist Party and the
United Democratic Front. He served two prison terms under apartheid. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in 1975 for "taking part in the activities of an unlawful organisation" by distributing ANC literature, and "undergoing training or inciting or encouraging others to undergo training, or obtaining information which could be of use in furthering the achievements of any of the objects of communism or any unlawful organisation". He served his sentence in Pretoria Local, or Pretoria Prison, which was part of the
Pretoria Central Prison complex, along with
Denis Goldberg,
Jeremy Cronin and others. He was there at the time of a daring escape in 1979 by
Tim Jenkin,
Stephen Lee and
Alex Moumbaris. ==Academic affiliations==