Swaziland Solidarity Network statement
April 18th, 2013
Swaziland’s judiciary shoots itself in the foot
The Nation
Magazine’s Editor faces two years imprisonment after king Mswati’s courts found
him guilty of “scandalizing the court”.
In what is the worst violation of the right to Freedom Of
Speech, the controversial judge Bheki Maphalala has found Bheki Makhubu guilty
of contempt of court for publishing two articles which questioned the manner in
which the judiciary handled a case where several civic groups had filed a case
against the government’s refusal to allow political parties to function in the
country’s political landscape.
In his judgment, the judge stated that, “The November
2009 article constituted contempt of court by insinuating that the decision of
the Supreme Court had been predicated on a particular agenda and not based on
law. He said the February 2010 article was a ‘scurrilous’ abuse of Ramodibedi
[and was] calculated to undermine or lower the dignity of the Judge and to
bring due administration of justice into disrepute."
In the High Court of Public opinion where the Chief
Justice Ramodibedi is viewed as the worst Chief Justice the country has ever
seen, the king’s lap-dog and currently occupies his position
unconstitutionally, the entire case is a witch hunt and a political manoeuvre
on the country’s only independent magazine and the government’s most fearless
critic.
The mere fact that the judge has allowed his political
superiors to use the courts to suppress media freedom is the biggest show of
contempt for the country’s laws and its judiciary. The judgment against Makhubu
and the subsequent attention which it has generated has caused far much more harm
to the reputation of the country’s judiciary than the said article ever could.
As the Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN] we condemn this
outright declaration of war against media freedom and call upon all the
country’s media institutions to rally behind Makhubu in his quest for justice,
which will have an impact on all media outlets in the country.
See also
MISA: EDITOR’S CONVICTION ‘BRUTAL’
EDITOR’S CONTEMPT
SENTENCE ‘SHOCKING’
EDITOR SET FOR TWO YEARS IN JAIL
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