Why were people protesting against nelson Mandela going to jail?

People protested against Nelson Mandela's imprisonment because they viewed it as a symbol of the broader struggle against apartheid and racial oppression in South Africa. Mandela was a key leader of the African National Congress (ANC), which fought against the unjust laws that enforced racial segregation. His arrest in 1962 and subsequent life sentence in 1964 galvanized both national and international support for the anti-apartheid movement, with many seeing his imprisonment as an injustice that needed to be rectified for the sake of equality and democracy. Protests aimed to raise awareness and pressure the South African government to release him and dismantle apartheid.