TV CREW DETENTION CONFIRMED

The detention of two South African television journalists by Swazi police has been confirmed.

The two were in Swaziland to cover the protests across the kingdom that are starting today (11 April 2012).

This was confirmed by eNews Africa editor Chris Maroleng.

He told media, ‘I can confirm that two of our journalists were detained at a roadblock outside Mbabane shortly after 9am today.

‘What we are aware of is that the two are currently being questioned at a police station in the capital [Mbabane]’

The passports of journalist Tumaole Mohlaoli and cameraman Meshack Dube were confiscated.

‘They have been told that they are not under arrest, they are just being detained,’ Maroleng told reporters.

No reason was given for this.

He said eNews Africa was monitoring the developments.

‘We are committed to media freedom and we hope that the Swazi authorities will respect the basic human rights of our crew, who were deployed on a legitimate story to cover the activities in Swaziland,’ he said.

It was unclear if their equipment was also seized.

See also

TV CREW ‘DETAINED BY SWAZI POLICE’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/tv-crew-detained-by-swazi-police.html