Swaziland’s
People’s United Democratic Movement’s (PUDEMO) has reported that its President Mario Masuku has fallen ‘critically
ill’ in prison where he is on remand awaiting trial on a sedition charge.
PUDEMO is banned in
Swaziland as a ‘terrorist organisation’ and is widely regarded as the main
opposition political party in Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch. All political parties are barred from taking
part in elections and most are banned outright in the kingdom.
PUDEMO said in a statement, Masuku was ‘suffering from pneumonia due
to a combination of various horrible conditions he has been exposed to. He has
grown physically weak, pale, lost weight and has lost part of his eyesight.’
Masuku has been on
remand at Zakhele since 1 May 2014 when he was arrested during a police
clampdown on May Day
workers celebrations and charged with sedition.
PUDEMO said in a
statement posted on social media, ‘Having to be subjected to a poor diet of
porridge, beans and the occasional poorly cooked cabbage has contributed to his
deteriorated condition.
‘Zakhele remand
centre has refused to put President Masuku in a cell well secured in terms of
cold and bad weather conditions since his arrest on the 1st of May 2014. He has
been further denied warm clothes and access to his private medical
practitioner. Visitors who come to check on him have been made to wait for
nothing less than five hours, including refusal of his own son to consult him
in his capacity as a lawyer.’
It added, ‘Some of
his comrades have been banned from visiting him. The ban was constituted after
they brought him and Maxwell Dlamini newspapers deemed too political by
warders. The reading material included the Nation
magazine which is a Swazi monthly publication that is normally critical of the
authorities, City Press and the Sowetan which are both South African
newspapers.’
When Masuko appeared in
court in June 2014,
alongside Secretary-General of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) Maxwell Dlamini, who was also arrested and
charged with sedition following the May Day event, he was remanded in custody
until 24 September 2014.
See also
DEMOCRACY LEADERS JAILED ON REMAND
DANES SUPPORT JAILED SWAZI ACTIVISTS
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