Roland Rudd, one of
Swaziland’s best known political activists, has been released
from jail after receiving a Royal Pardon.
Rudd was serving seven
years for a number of offences, including attempted murder and possession of a
firearm.
He was released on the orders
of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. In 2015, the
King decreed that all prisoners jailed at His Majesty’s Correctional Services
(HMCS) would have their sentences reduced.
Rudd was released on
Saturday (9July 2016).
The Times
of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported
that Rudd had been charged in 2012 with the attempted murder of soldiers and
unlawful possession of a firearm.
The newspaper reported, ‘He
shot at Thokozani Mkwanyana, Bhekinkhosi Sikhondze, Mlondi Xaba and Gugulethu
Mngometulu during a road rage incident at KaDake area in the Hhohho region.’
In 2013, the Swazi High
Court rejected Rudd’s application that he is right to personal freedom was
being violated because he had been jailed but not been brought before a court.
He also said he was continually
subjected to ‘cruel and inhuman treatment’.
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