Stiffkitten blog
May 3, 2012
Maxwell and Musa
on indefinite bail?
“We may be
acquitted or the government will do as it always does, keep us on indefinite
bail,” says president of the Swaziland National Union of Students, Maxwell
Dlamini. “We are just hoping that the trial will be over very soon. We are to
know the direction it will take after the 16th of May 2012, where the next
[court] sitting will be. Until now they haven’t led any evidence that links us
to the charges.”
He and his fellow accused, law graduate and former
student leader Musa Ngubeni, are on trial for allegedly being in possession of
explosives in connection with last April’s protests against Swaziland’s
absolute monarchy on the 38th anniversary of the country’s state of emergency
and banning of all political parties.
Both insist that they are innocent and were tortured by
police and told they would be killed for helping to organise the peaceful
protest action. ““I was tied to a bench with my face looking upwards and they
suffocated me with the black plastic bag. They did that over and over again
till I collapsed. They told me that they will kill me for causing trouble in
the country,” Maxwell told Africa Contact in March.
Delaying trials, keeping suspects on indefinite bail and
generally harassing them are methods commonly employed by the regime in
Swaziland against political activists. Being on indefinite bail severely
restricts the freedom of movement of activists such as Maxwell and Musa. They
have to report to the Mbabane Regional Police Station four times a week, even
though they live in Manzini, and have had their passports taken, which means
that they cannot leave the country without asking permission from the regime.
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