The lawyer acting on behalf of jailed Swazi democrat Mario Masuku has himself been arrested, according to a report coming out of Swaziland, today (3 June 2009).
Mario Masuku, the president of the banned People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), has been on remand in jail since November 2008 awaiting trial on a terrorist charge.
According to the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Organisations (SCCCO), Thulani Maseko may have been arrested in connection with comments made at the Mayday celebrations held last month in Manzini.
The Swazi Government is about to hammer another nail in the coffin of democracy in Swaziland.
If a law currently being drafted is passed, civil servants (that’s anyone on the government payroll, including school teachers) will face jail if they engage in politics.
He falsely claimed that the Swaziland Constitution allows him to do this.
This week, Public Service Minister Mtiti Fakudze said the legislation was currently at drafting stage and it will be debated by cabinet before the end of this month (June 2009).
In March, the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, in an editorial comment, said the Suppression of Terrorism Act had become the supreme law in Swaziland over-riding the kingdom’s constitution.
It called for a Human Rights Commission to be formed to protect the constitution and criticised members of parliament who are failing to bring cabinet ministers to account.
The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), one of the political parties banned in Swaziland and branded a terrorist organisation by Dlamini, said that the Swazi Government has already identified targets ‘and the Intelligence Branch will be used to hunt down and identify more targets’. The statement said members and supporters of PUDEMO were prime targets in the clampdown.
Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhmabule who fears he is about to face arrest for his outspoken views on King Mswati III and the undemocratic kingdom of Swaziland, is continuing with his criticism.
Nkhmabule, who used to write a weekly column for the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent newspaper, until he was dropped by the paper after pressure from King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has taken his column to the Internet.
The latest, published yesterday (1 June 2009), attacks the king and those around him for ‘partying, dancing and cruising all over Asia’ while not caring about the ‘lack of education for the Swazi people and their children’.
Nkhmabule goes on, ‘The Swazi people have served this monarch with their might, sweat and money hoping that the King would, in return, put them first in his priority list. The King is not making any sacrifice to show his people that he cares about them.’
Another suspected terrorist is being ill treated in a Swazi jail.
This timeit’s Amos Mbedzi, who was arrested last September on suspicion of planting a bomb at the Lozitha Highway Bridge.
Mbedzi told the Swaziland High Court that prison authorities have not allowed him to leave his cell where he is kept in solitary confinement.He is also being denied access to the toilet, friends and relatives.
Mbedzi also says he is not allowed to attend magistrates’ court for remand hearings. No date has yet been set for his trial.
He says, ‘I submit that the conditions I am kept under clearly designated to subject me to degrading and inhuman treatment in order to wreck me emotionally, mentally or even result in my death.’
Meanwhile, support for Mario Masuku, the president of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) who is also in jail awaiting trial is growing.
The latest support comes from retiring European Ambassador to Swaziland Peter Beck Christiansen
Christiansen told a European Day Celebration, ‘A special greeting goes to my friend Mario Masuku. I’ve known Mario since I came here five years ago. According to the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, this was received with ‘deafening silence’ by the more than 50 people who attended the event.
Christiansen has form when it comes to speaking openly about the lack of democracy in Swaziland. In July 2008 he told the Swazi media the EU would not accept an invitation to monitor that year’s Swazi elections because there were ‘shortcomings’ in the kingdom’s democracy.
In a separate development, Thulani Maseko, Masuku’s lawyer, recently travelled to the United Kingdomon the invitation by the country’s Foreign and Commonwealth Minister, Lord Malloch-Brown to discuss human rights in Swaziland. Maseko is the coordinator of Lawyers for Human Rights.
He said the representatives from the organisations he met were interested in knowing more about the Masuku case. ‘The focus on Swaziland is inevitably mounting, at least according to the people I met. The critical concern is to see Swaziland moving towards democracy using acceptable means,’ he said.
A free Mario Masuku website is now up and running here.
An arrest warrant has been issued for the arrest of Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhmabule.
Nkhmabule has been under attack for his views on the lack of democracy in Swaziland and the role of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
‘There is to be a warrant issued for my arrest under the anti terrorism Laws of Swaziland, today (Sunday 1t May 2009).
‘This is most likely as a result of starting this website and speaking against the current regime in my Country. But fear not divided we stand, divided we fall and this site will continue with or without me.
‘We call upon the International Community and our regular watchers here to show support in writing both here, and, to your local MP in your country, the EU and the UN to help bring light upon our plight and suffering in this struggle for humanity.
‘The time Zimbabwe has passed, now it is the time for Swaziland to fight for its freedom and democracy in the World.
‘Why does the Commonwealth remain silent in such matters and yet so vociferous towards Zimbabwe? Where are the Americans and the British when you need them most?
‘It is time to stand up and shout about Swaziland and stop the death and corruption with its global repercussions. We have enlightened you to the Beef you are eating in the EU and yet nothing is heard, does nobody hear when there is an election on?
‘We will keep you posted on events as they unravel……’
