Friday, 12 June 2009

JAILED SWAZI LAWYER WANTS BAIL

Thulani Maseko, Swaziland’s prominent human rights lawyer who is in jail awaiting trial for sedition is to ask for bail.


Previously, Maseko refused bail wanting to force the Swazi state to take him to trail quickly.


Now, the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) has asked him to apply for bail because it believes he can do more good for the pro-democracy movement outside jail than inside.


Maseko will need to go to the Swazi High Court to apply for bail.


Meanwhile, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has called for charges against Maseko to be dropped. He is alleged to have made seditious comments at a May Day rally.


In a statement, the ICJ says arresting Maseko, ‘constitutes arbitrary detention and his prosecution constitutes an attack against his fundamental freedom of expression’.


The ICJ calls upon the state to immediately unconditionally free Maseko.

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