The Swaziland democracy
activist arrested and charged
with sedition after he criticised King Mswati III, the absolute monarch, said
he was tortured by police.
Ncamiso Ngcamphalala said
he almost died after he was tied with a rope to a bench and suffocated with a
plastic bag for nearly three hours at Mafutseni police station.
Ngcamphalala, the Economic
Freedom Fighters of Swaziland President, told Swati Newsweek, a
news website, ‘I could not breathe for nearly three hours. I urinated and
fainted as the close to 25 cops tortured me both physical and emotional.’
He also made some of his
allegations in documents sent to the Swazi High Court.
He told Swati Newsweek, ‘They
tied me with a rope and assaulted me with open hands. They then came with
gloves they used when suffocating me whilst they covered my face with a plastic
bag.’
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Ncamiso Ngcamphalala
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Ngcamphalala was arrested
after he was quoted in a report on Swati Newsweek
saying, ‘We want government to change people’s lives, the Swazi Monarchy must
know its place. We respect the King, but respect is earned and when pushed into
a corner; we will be forced to retaliate. We unapologetically stand for
multi-party democracy.’
Eugene Dube, the editor of Swati
Newsweek, escaped
police capture when they tried to arrest him for publishing the report. He
left the kingdom to stay in South Africa.
Ngcamphalala has since been
released on bail.
A date for his trial has not been set.
In March 2020 Swaziland
journalist and former government cabinet minister Mfomfo Nkambule said
he was tortured by police after he wrote articles critical of King Mswati for
the online newspaper Swaziland News.
In
an interview he told the newspaper that police raided his home and seized
electronic gadgets. He said he was taken to Manzini police regional
headquarters where he was harassed and tortured.
He told the Swaziland News, ‘They tortured me
saying I risk being charged with high treason and under the terrorism law.’ He
said police complained about articles he wrote critical of the political
system.
Also in March 2020 the editor of Swaziland
News Zweli Martin Dlamini told the South African Broadcasting
Corporation’s Media
Monitor programme that police raided his home after he published articles
in his newspaper. He said police tied him up and suffocated him with a plastic
bag.
He was speaking from South Africa and said he feared
returning to Swaziland.
See also
Swaziland
journalist critical of King flees, hides in forest five days
Swaziland
journalist ‘tortured by police after criticising absolute monarch in newspaper
articles’
Newspaper
editor flees Swaziland for second time after arrest and police torture
‘Editor
flees after death threat’
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