About 60 armed
Swazi police broke up a prayer meeting before it had even started, claiming
that the law had been broken.
This happened last
week (16 February 2013) in a school hall at Salesian in Manzini. Police claimed
the people attending were not present for prayers, but had gathered together to
plot against national elections due to be held in Swaziland sometime later this
year (2013).
This, police
said, allowed them to break up the meeting without a court order or a warrant.
Police spokesperson Inspector Khulani Mamba, said they
were acting on information that the prayers were a meeting to plan to disturb
forthcoming national elections.
‘When we see a crime happening, we don’t need a court
order,’ Mamba told local media last week.
But, Musa Hlophe,
the coordinator of the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisation
(SCCCO), one of the best known NGOs in the kingdom, says, nothing had happened
at the meeting to give police cause to stop it.
Writing in his regular column in the Times Sunday newspaper
in Swaziland, Hlophe gave details of what happened when the police arrived.
He wrote, ‘In a
school hall at Salesian in Manzini (not a church) a meeting was organised by
the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) and the Swaziland Democracy
Campaign. They called it a “Prayer for Multiparty”.
‘It was publicly
advertised as open to all. The Royal Swaziland Police obviously saw the
advertisement and decided to please their political masters by not allowing it.
‘They claimed the
meeting was called to plan how to disrupt the upcoming national elections. What
law did the police say these people broke?
‘Even more
importantly, where is the police evidence to even suspect a crime?
‘Dissent and
even peaceful disruption or defiance are not crimes. Therefore, planning them
cannot be a crime either.
‘Either way, the
police charged in and demanded that the private meeting be broken up. Faced
with such a show of force, the organisers reluctantly agreed to these demands.
They then thought that by moving to a church, they would be protected. They did
so.
‘The Swazi
Police reacted by finding the new meeting and invading it again, this time
forcing the people out within “seven minutes”.
‘Did the police
not see that this would lead to a bigger problem for their masters?
‘The Highest
Authorities in the land including, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister
(DPM), Minister of Justice and those above them, have all spoken very clearly
in international meetings like the United Nations and the African Union, that
protest meetings are allowed in Swaziland.
‘They often say
they can ban certain public rallies because they think they are a danger to the
public. That cannot be the case here since the meeting was of a small number of
people in a private area. So the Swazi Police now raid a church to stop a few
people protesting against a system they see as being undemocratic?
‘I was going to
say the “protesters” were forced to leave the hall but I would be wrong. They
had not even started to protest or even to plan their protest.
‘They had merely
gathered together and were yet to speak. The Police found them guilty of crimes
before they had opened their mouths.
‘I have talked
to the people who were there. They were certainly intending to open debates on
whether the national elections that we expect in August 2013 should be
contested or boycotted but I am yet to see a crime in that. They wanted to get
their campaign off on the right foot by seeking spiritual reflection and
guidance from the Bible.
‘There is not
yet a declared law in Swaziland against having a different opinion, yet our
police treat it as a crime.
‘Officially,
there is no reason to stop anyone organising a protest but the Swazi police
greet peaceful dissidents with brute force, rubber bullets and batons.’
See also
POLICE SAY PRAYERS WERE POLITICAL
RAID ON PRAYERS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
CHRISTIANS
CONDEMN PRAYERS RAID
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