Committee to Protect
Journalists, 25 October 2018
Security staff detained two
Times of Swaziland journalists for more than an hour at the Qatar
Embassy in Swaziland's capital, Mbabane, on October 5, 2018, according to a
statement by the local chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA),
writes the Committee toProtect Journalists. The journalists were detained after a
senior diplomat tried to make them sign a statement barring them from
publishing a report about his alleged involvement in an assault, according to The
Times of Swaziland.
The paper's business editor
Kwanele Dhladhla and investigative journalist Welcome Dlamini were at the
embassy to interview Qatar's Charge d' Affaires and acting ambassador Yaqoub
Yousuf al-Mulla about an incident in which the diplomat allegedly pointed a
firearm at a street vendor, according to The Times of Swaziland Sunday
and a Swazi journalist with knowledge of the case, who spoke with CPJ but asked
not to be named for fear of reprisal.
Al-Mulla agreed to speak to
the journalists, but then tried to force Dhladhla and Dlamini to sign a written
acknowledgement they would not publish the article, according to a Times of
Swaziland report.
A document on an Embassy of
Qatar letterhead, dated October 5 and published by the Times of Swaziland,
stated, “We, the employees of The Times newspaper, are committed
not to publish any information of the embassy of the state of Qatar without an
order or written permission from the embassy. In case of anything, the
newspaper and the responsible persons will be prosecuted.”
Dhladhla and Dlamini
refused to sign, saying the story was in the public interest, according to the
Zimbabwe chapter of MISA, who also issued a statement, and the Times of Swaziland. The pair
recorded the interview, according to the journalist with whom CPJ spoke.
According to MISA-Zimbabwe,
the diplomat ordered embassy security staff to detain the journalists until
they signed the agreement. The diplomat allegedly threatened to report the
journalists to senior member of the Swazi Royal House, according to MISA and
the Times of Swaziland article.
Al-Mulla called the Swazi
police and reported that the journalists had broken into the embassy because
they did not have an appointment or permission to be there, MISA-Zimbabwe said.
After Dhladhla and Dlamini
were released, they went to the police and laid a charge of kidnapping against
the diplomat, according to MISA-Zimbabwe. Neither journalist signed the
document, according to the journalist with whom CPJ spoke.
The Times of Swaziland article
about the incident, published on October 6, 2018, quoted Assistant Chief Police
Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni as saying that “an enquiry pertaining to trespassing was being pursued against the
journalists.”
Swazi police spokeswoman
Phindile Vilakati referred CPJ to Swaziland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for
comment. As of October 24, 2018, Joel Nhleko, the ministry's principal
secretary, had not responded to CPJ's WhatsApp messages seeking comment.
The paper published the
article about al-Mulla's alleged assault of a street vendor on October 7, 2018.
The report said that the diplomat admitted having a gun but disputed
allegations that he threatened the vendor.
Times of
Swaziland editor Martin Dlamini told
CPJ, “We are shocked that our journalists could be subjected to such treatment
by an ambassador. This is not just a serious attack on the local media but
displays disrespect toward the country. We will follow this matter until
justice is served.”
A senior official in the
Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CPJ in an emailed statement that
al-Mulla had agreed to an off-the-record briefing on October 5, but that
Dlamini and Dhladhla had “misunderstood the agreed ground rules as the Acting
Ambassador was surprised to find that he had been recorded throughout”, the
official said. The official denied that the journalists were held against their
will and said that if any evidence of a violation from a Qatari diplomat toward
a journalist is found, “the necessary steps will be taken.”
See also
Two
More Human Rights Groups Condemn Swaziland Police Attack on Journalist
Media Freedom Group Calls On SADC To Investigate
Swaziland For ‘State-Sponsored’ Attacks On Journalists
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/09/media-freedom-group-calls-on-sadc-to.html
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