Two of the
Swaziland democracy leaders charged with sedition following
May Day commemorations in the kingdom have been jailed on remand until 9 May
2014.
Mario Masuku,
President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), and Maxwell
Dlamini, Secretary-General of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), were
accused of ‘uttering seditious statements’.
They appeared at
Magistrates Court on Friday (2 May 2014) and were remanded in jail.
According to
reports from the court published on social media, the two men face four
separate charges arising from a single incident.
The two were
arrested following a pro-democracy rally at the Salesian Sports Ground in
Manzini, Swaziland’s main commercial city.
Local media
reported that as many as 7,000 people joined the rallies in Swaziland to mark
May Day, but some democracy leaders were prevented from attending by police.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper
in effect owned by King Mswati III, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute
monarch, reported, ‘Masuku was a hit among the workers yesterday. He was given
a hero’s welcome when he arrived with political activists ignoring the
programme and running all the way to the parking lot to welcome him.’
It added, ‘After
Masuku’s speech, Maxwell sang a song which the political activists danced and
toyi-toyied to. He was arrested for this song as the police termed it
seditious.’
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent
daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported PUDEMO’s Second Deputy Secretary-General,
Mphandlana Shongwe and Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) Coordinator
Wandile Dludlu were turned back by police officers and ordered not to set foot
in Manzini.
It reported Shongwe
was stopped by the police at Moneni where there was a roadblock and he ordered
to return home. He was told he would be arrested if he went into the city.
The Times reported Shongwe said police told
him he would experience what Sipho Jele experienced if he defied their orders.
This was a reference to the death in custody four years ago of Jele, who was
arrested on May Day 2010 for wearing a T-shirt supporting a pro-democracy
political party.
The newspaper
reported that Dludlu was stopped by the police near Bhunu Mall in Manzini while
driving his vehicle. The newspaper reported him saying the police used violence
against him.
He said, ‘They
grabbed me and drove with me to Mbabane in a white Isuzu double-cab, where they
dropped me off at my parental home in Msunduza,’
Swazi authorities have clamped down on dissent in the kingdom
in recent months.
Seven democracy campaigners have been in jail on remand
since last month accused of terrorist activities after they were arrested
for wearing PUDEMO T-shirts and berets. PUDEMO has been banned in Swaziland
as a ‘terrorist’ organisation since 2008, under the controversial Suppression
of Terrorism Act.
Magazine editor Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko are presently
on trial in Swaziland charged with contempt after writing articles for the Nation, a small circulation magazine, that
criticised the Swazi judiciary.
Last month, police illegally
abducted prodemocracy leaders to prevent them addressing a meeting calling
for freedom in Swaziland.
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