STUDENT SHOT IN LEG BY SWAZI POLICE

A university student in Swaziland was shot with a live bullet by police following campus disturbances, human rights activists report.

The 23-year-old student at the Limkokwing private university in Mbabane was reportedly an innocent victim of the shooting.

The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) said, ‘The student was on his way to his dormitory when he was struck by the live bullet in his leg.’

SSN reported, ‘According to witnesses, one policeman claimed to have been hit by a stone. In retaliation, one of his colleagues let out a shot in the direction of the student who was walking
past the police contingent.’

Linkokwing has been the scene of disturbances for more than a week as students protested against lack of equipment such as computers, laptops and cameras, at the university.

Authorities closed the university, but it reopened yesterday, but some students are boycotting classes.

The student was taken to hospital where he was treated for his wounds.

The Times of Swaziland,  reporting the same incident, said the student was hit with a rubber bullet, ‘which was lodged below the knee of his right leg’. It said the student bled profusely and the bullet was extracted at the hospital.