Amnesty
International has highlighted the case of two journalists jailed in Swaziland
for writing articles critical of the kingdom’s judiciary to demonstrate an ‘upsurge
in politically motivated trials and the use of laws which violate the principle
of legality to suppress dissent’ over the past year.
Amnesty,
in its annual report just published, said that in
July 2014 Bheki Makhubu, editor of the monthly news magazine the Nation, and human rights
lawyer Thulani Maseko were sentenced by the High Court to two years in prison
for contempt of court ‘after a grossly unfair trial’.
Amnesty,
which has already declared the two men to be ‘prisoners of conscience’, said, ‘In March [2014] the two
men were arrested after the Nation
published their articles raising concerns about judicial independence and
political accountability in Swaziland. The warrant used to arrest them, issued
by Swaziland’s Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi, subverted the normal legal
process.
‘The
police at Mbabane police station, where the men were initially detained prior
to their appearance before the Chief Justice, also appeared to have been acting
under instructions when they denied the men’s lawyers access to them in the
police cells.
‘The two
men were remanded into custody by the Chief Justice following a brief procedure
behind closed doors in his office. In April, they were briefly released,
following a ruling by High Court judge Mumcy Dlamini that the warrants used to
arrest them were defective. The Chief Justice immediately lodged an appeal
against this ruling, the two men were rearrested and the trial against them
began under High Court judge Mpendulo Simelane.
‘The
judge had a clear conflict of interest in the matter as he was named in one of
the cited articles and intervened as a factual witness during the course of the
trial. When sentencing the defendants, Judge Simelane criticized their
“disgusting conduct”, for running a “defiance campaign” against the
administration of justice with “scurrilous” articles and, in respect of Thulani
Maseko, for “pursuing regime change”’
The
sentences are to be appealed.
Amnesty
added, ‘In May [2014], the Supreme Court overturned Bheki Makhubu’s previous
conviction in 2013 for one of two charges against him arising from an earlier
article in the Nation on
the importance of the judiciary in entrenching respect for the Constitution and
improving the lives of the people.
‘The
Supreme Court upheld the conviction on the second charge arising from an
article concerning the conduct of the country’s powerful Chief Justice, but
overturned the sentence of two years’ imprisonment if the editor failed to pay
a fine equivalent to nearly US$45,000 within three days. The Supreme Court
judges substituted a fine equivalent of US$3,000 and a suspended sentence of
three months’ imprisonment conditional on not being convicted of a similar
offence.’
See also
SWAZI HUMAN RIGHTS WORSEN: AMNESTY
JOURNALISTS JAILED TO DETER OTHERS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/journalists-jailed-to-deter-others.html
US BACKS CONVICTED SWAZI JOURNALISTS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/us-backs-convicted-swazi-journalists.html
JUDGE RESTRICTS PRESS FREEDOM
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/judge-restricts-press-freedom.html
SUPPORT FOR CONVICTED JOURNALISTS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/global-support-for-convicted-journalists.html
WHAT CONVICTED JOURNALISTS WROTE
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/convicted-journalists-what-they-wrote.html
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/journalists-jailed-to-deter-others.html
US BACKS CONVICTED SWAZI JOURNALISTS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/us-backs-convicted-swazi-journalists.html
JUDGE RESTRICTS PRESS FREEDOM
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/judge-restricts-press-freedom.html
SUPPORT FOR CONVICTED JOURNALISTS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/global-support-for-convicted-journalists.html
WHAT CONVICTED JOURNALISTS WROTE
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/convicted-journalists-what-they-wrote.html
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