King Mswati III of Swaziland can run, but he cannot hide.
The king, in London for the Royal Wedding, has moved into the Four Seasons Hotel, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, after protestors picketed the Dorchester hotel where he had originally been booked to stay.
About 80 demonstrators attracted global attention on Tuesday (26 April 2011) with their picket at the Dorchester. They are drawing the world’s attention to the human rights abuses in Swaziland, where King Mswati reigns as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
King Mswati is widely reported to be in London with an entourage of 50 people.
A new protest is planned for Saturday (30 April 2011) at 6.30pm at the Four Seasons, where King Mswati is booked to hold a reception.
The Zimbabwe Vigil, one of the supporters of Tuesday’s demonstration, reported on its website, ‘About 80 demonstrators had gathered outside the [Dorchester] hotel to support the Swaziland Vigil which had arranged a picket of protest against Mswati’s oppressive rule – only to find that the Swazi freeloaders had gone to the nearby Four Seasons Hotel.
‘Mswati had obviously got the message as members of his entourage at the Four Seasons were overheard talking about our demonstration which had attracted much media attention with protesters carrying posters such as “Swazi King parties while country starves” and “Royal Wedding guests are human rights abusers”.
‘The demonstration obviously embarrassed the Dorchester who made desperate efforts to contact the police to have us moved on to the Four Seasons’.
For pictures of the Dorchester demonstration click here http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
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