ARMED SWAZI POLICE ATTACK MARCH

Armed Swazi police attacked demonstrators who were marching to defend the Swaziland Constitution.

In one incident, about 15 armed policemen attacked a man and kicked and assaulted him with batons for about three minutes before they dragged him away to the police station.

The only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, the Times of Swaziland, reports today (17 April 2009) that one ‘dreadlocked marcher’ was ‘heavily assaulted by police and officers from the Correctional Services for allegedly trampling on the national flag’.

The attack came as up to 2,000 marchers demonstrated in Manzini, Swaziland’s main commercial city. They were calling for the Swazi Government to honour its constitutional obligations and implement free primary schooling immediately. The Government had been ordered to comply with the constitution by the Swaziland High Court, but the government of illegally-appointed prime minister Barnabas Dlamini had refused, saying the kingdom couldn’t afford to do it.

The Times reports that the trouble started when a group of about 20 youth broke away from the main demonstration and started singing and dancing.

‘Initially, when the youth tried to rejoin the other group, they were blocked by the police from doing so. Police officers together with those from His majesty’s Correctional Services attacked the protesters with clubs, batons and sjamboks.’

The ‘dreadlocked marcher’ was tripped before ‘a mob of about 15 law enforcers pounced on him. He was kicked and assaulted with batons for about three minutes before being dragged away to the police station’. He had been protesting with a national flag before throwing it onto the ground.

In an editorial comment, the Times says, ‘The shocking images of police officers bashing some of the marchers warrant a serious inquiry and disciplinary measures taken against those involved. The victims are very lucky to be breathing as the methods applied fall outside any acceptable crowd control measures that police are trained to apply.

It adds, ‘It’s bad enough that the law on free education has been broken, let’s not allow other laws of the land to be discarded in this fashion.’