Percy Simelane, the official spokesperson for the
Swazi Government, has described the European
Parliament’s call for political prisoners in Swaziland to be freed as ‘political
rape’.
Simelane said the European Union had no business
interfering in the internal affairs of Swaziland and likened the European
parliament to a ‘street mob’.
King Mswati III rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, political parties are banned from taking part
in elections and the King chooses the government and the top judiciary. Pro-democracy
campaigners currently languish in prison, many on remand awaiting trial for more
than a year, under the kingdom’s Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Members of the European Parliament (MEP) meeting in
plenary session on Thursday (21 May 2015) called for the immediate release of Thulani
Maseko and Bheki Makhubu from jail in Swaziland. Maseko, a human-rights
lawyer, and Makhubu, editor of the Nation
magazine were jailed for two years after writing and publishing articles
critical of the Swazi judiciary.
MEPs said ‘their imprisonment relates directly to
the legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression’.
They also called for the release of all political
prisoners, including Mario
Masuku, President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), and
Maxwell Dlamini, Secretary-General of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO).
A statement
issued by the European Parliament said, ‘Parliament considers the
imprisonment of political activists and the banning of trade unions to be in
clear contravention of commitments made by Swaziland under the Cotonou
Agreement to respect democracy, the rule of law and human rights, and also
under the sustainable development chapter of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement, for which Parliament’s support
will depend on respect for the commitments made.’
The Times
Sunday, an independent newspaper in Swaziland, reported on 24 May 2015, ‘In
response to the resolution, Government spokesperson Percy Simelane said they
had no reasons to entertain calls for political rape on the country.’
The Times reported
that Simelane said in a text message to the newspaper that the kingdom ‘had the
potency to correct or sort themselves out without any pressure from street mobs’.
See also
FREE
POLITICAL PRISONERS: EURO MPs
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/05/free-political-prisoners-euro-mps.html
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