There is no media freedom
in Swaziland, according to the latest
annual report from Reporters Without Borders.
The kingdom, ruled by King
Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, stands at number 152
out of 180 in the world ranking.
In a report just published
RWB stated the kingdom, ‘prevents journalists from working freely and obstructs
access to information. No court is allowed to prosecute or try members of the
government, but any criticism of the regime is liable to be the subject of a
prosecution.
‘For fear of reprisals,
journalists censor themselves almost systematically. In January 2018, an
investigative journalist
had to flee to South
Africa after being threatened in connection with an article revealing the King’s
involvement in an alleged corruption case. His
newspaper was closed on the King’s orders.’
The report was referring to
the case of Swaziland Shopping and
its editor Zweli Martin Dlamini. It concluded there was ‘no media freedom’.
Also just published is the
US State Department review of human rights in Swaziland for 2017. It states that the Swazi Constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, ‘but the
King may deny these rights at his discretion, and the government severely
restricted these rights in prior years’.
It added, ‘Officials impeded
press freedom. Although no law bans criticism of the monarchy, the prime
minister and other officials cautioned journalists against publishing such
criticism with veiled threats of newspaper closure or job loss.’
The report stated, ‘The law
empowers the government to ban publications if it deems them “prejudicial or
potentially prejudicial to the interests of defence, public safety, public
order, public morality, or public health.” Most journalists practiced
self-censorship. Journalists expressed fear of judicial reprisals for their
reporting on some High Court cases and matters involving the monarchy.’
The report stated,
‘Broadcast media remained firmly under state control. Most persons obtained
their news from radio broadcasts. A controversial ministerial decree
prohibiting MPs from speaking on the radio was apparently lifted. The
government noted the decree had never been enforced. There was no instance,
however, in which an MP had violated it. Despite invitations issued by the
media regulatory authority for parties to apply for licenses, no licenses were
awarded. Stations practiced self-censorship and refused to broadcast anything
perceived as critical of the government or the monarchy.’
See also
‘EDITOR FLEES AFTER DEATH THREAT’
SWAZI
GOVERNMENT FORCES NEWSPAPER TO CLOSE
JOURNALISTS
‘SCARED TO DO THEIR JOBS’
https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/journalists-scared-to-do-their-jobs.html
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