The Swaziland magazine editor Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko had their jail sentences overturned by the Supreme Court after immense international pressure, but this will not change the judicial system in the kingdom.
The pair were convicted
and sentenced to two years in jail for
writing and publishing articles critical of the Swazi
judiciary.
On Tuesday (30 June 2015) the pair was released by
the Supreme Court after judges ruled their conviction by the High Court was unsupportable.
They had been in jail since March 2014.
Now, two of the groups involved in the campaign to
free the two men are warning that the overturning of the conviction does not
mean the judicial system has changed in Swaziland.
King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch and he picks the top judges. Political parties are banned from
taking part in elections and the King choses the Prime Minister and the
government. Groups that campaign for democracy are banned under the Suppression
of Terrorism Act.
Reacting to the release of Makhubu and Maseko,
Sharan Burrow, International
Trade Union Confederation General Secretary, said, ‘Their
release just a couple of weeks before the end of their prison sentences should
not be seen as a sign of progress in Swaziland. International pressure has
helped get them released early, and needs to be sustained to bring about
respect for fundamental rights in Swaziland, which is one of the worst
countries for violations
against workers’ rights.’
Pressure came from all
over the world, including the United
Nations and the European
Parliament. Amnesty
International had named the two men prisoners
of conscience.
In June 2015, The UN Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention (UNWGAD)
called for the immediate release of the two men and said they should be paid
‘adequate compensation, enforceable by law’.
Organisations within Swaziland and Africa as well as
outside the continent demanded
the release of the two who wrote
and published articles in a tiny-circulation monthly
magazine the Nation, critical of the
Swazi judiciary and the then Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi.
One of these groups, the Swaziland
Solidarity Network, in a statement called the judiciary,
‘a tool of oppression of Mswati’s government. As long as the king remains an
absolute monarch, there will never be any judicial independence in the
country.’
It added. ‘This capitulation by the despot king is a
direct result of the political pressure he has received from the Mass
Democratic Movement, international institutions and foreign states. Without
this pressure the two would still be languishing in prison. We therefore take
the time to acknowledge the moral, financial and political support from those
institutions.’
Ramodibedi was sacked
from his post on 17 June 2015 after a Judicial
Service Commission hearing found him guilty of abuse of power. Ramodibedi left Swaziland for his home
country of Lesotho. A warrant
for his arrest has been issued in Swaziland.
See also
SUPREME
COURT FREES JAILED WRITERS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/supreme-court-frees-jailed-writers.html
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