JOURNALISTS JAILED ‘TO DETER OTHERS’

Swaziland High Court Judge Mpendulo Simelane sentenced an editor and a writer to two years in jail to deter other journalists from criticizing the state.

He made this clear in remarks from the court on Friday (25 July 2014) when he sentenced Bheki Makhubu, editor of the Nation magazine, and Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer and writer, to two years in prison without an option of a fine.

The pair had written articles critical of Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi and the Swaziland judiciary.

Swaziland is not a democracy and is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Judge Simelane said, ‘I find that the interests of society far outweigh the personal circumstances of the Accused.’

He added that publishing articles in the Nation critical of the judiciary was ‘a defiance campaign against the Courts and the administration of justice. The Courts have an obligation to discourage such conduct in the interest of the stability of our country.’

In a clear warning to all journalists and other critics in Swaziland, Judge Simelane said, ‘No one, I repeat, has a right to write scurrilous articles in the manner the Accused persons did.  Such conduct destroys public confidence in the Courts, without which this country cannot function effectively.  The Courts hence have to use the very ammunition of Contempt of Court in self-protection from journalists like the Accused persons.’

He added, ‘Swaziland is a sovereign state.  Her laws and constitutional structures must be respected.  It is the fundamental responsibility of the Courts in this country to ensure that this is achieved through appropriately stiff sentences as a deterrent.’

The prison sentence has been criticized across the world. The US State Department said the harsh sentence appeared to be in conflict with Swaziland’s human rights obligations.

Amnesty International called it ‘a deplorable attack on freedom of expression in the country’.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Makhubu’s ‘only crime was to express a point of view and to publish criticism of alleged abuse of resources by certain members of the Swazi judiciary’.

The South Africa National Editors Forum (Sanef) said, ‘This is a massive blow to freedom of expression in Swaziland and will have a chilling impact on the work of journalists in that country.’

See also

US BACKS CONVICTED SWAZI JOURNALISTS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/us-backs-convicted-swazi-journalists.html

JUDGE RESTRICTS PRESS FREEDOM

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/judge-restricts-press-freedom.html

SUPPORT FOR CONVICTED JOURNALISTS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/global-support-for-convicted-journalists.html

WHAT CONVICTED JOURNALISTS WROTE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/convicted-journalists-what-they-wrote.html

COURT CONVICTS EDITOR AND WRITER

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/court-convicts-editor-and-writer.html

EDITOR AND LAWYER ‘FACE 10 YEARS JAIL’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/editor-and-lawyer-face-10-years-jail.html

SOUTH AFRICA EDITORS BACK MAKHUBU

South African National Editors’ Forum

Press release 18 April 2013

Concerned With Sentencing of Swaziland Editor Bheki Makhubu

The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) objects in the strongest terms to the conviction and sentencing in Swaziland of Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation magazine, on charges of "scandalising the court".

Mr Makhubu was sentenced to two years in jail, alternatively a R200 000 fine, after contempt charges were brought against him by Swaziland's Attorney General Majahenkhaba Dlamini, over two articles dealing with the attitude of judges, including the Chief Justice, to the constitution.

The use of contempt charges to silence legitimate scrutiny of judicial conduct and attitudes will do nothing to secure the dignity and credibility of Swaziland's courts. On the contrary, by seeking to enforce silence rather than to foster open debate, this judgement is more likely to engender doubt, criticism, and suspicion of Swaziland's courts than it is to create respect.

We understand Bheki Makhubu will appeal the verdict and sentence, and we will work with other regional and local organisations to support him. We strongly urge the South African government and the African Union to more vigorously remind the Swazi authorities of the importance of a free press and open democratic environment.

See also

HIGH COURT SUPPRESSES MEDIA FREEDOM

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/high-court-suppresses-media-freedom.html

MISA: EDITOR’S CONVICTION ‘BRUTAL’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/misa-editors-conviction-brutal.html

EDITOR’S CONTEMPT SENTENCE ‘SHOCKING’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/editors-contempt-sentence-shocking.html

EDITOR SET FOR TWO YEARS IN JAIL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/editor-set-for-two-years-in-jail.html

INTERNET TRUTH ABOUT SWAZILAND

King Mswati III of Swaziland recently decried the way information about his kingdom seeped onto the Internet, telling the world about things he’d rather we didn’t know.

I bet he’s giving his brother Prince Mahlaba a good kicking today after his threat that journalists ‘who write bad things about the country will die’ became an international scandal. Mahlaba also said journalists wrote lies.

Mahlaba must have thought he could get away with bullying the media in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. He made his comments at the Smart Partnership, a talk shop organised and controlled by Swaziland’s ruling elite.

But Mahlaba didn’t reckon on the influence of the Internet. Once the Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, bravely reported the threat on its website, there was no going back.

Within hours the influential media freedom organisation the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had rallied behind the Swazi media and condemned Mahlaba. Then the story went truly global. I’ve counted more than 25 Internet sites from every continent on the planet that carried news criticising the prince and by extension the whole undemocratic regime in Swaziland.

It’s a lesson for us all that it’s important to get the news out. Even when sometimes the mainstream media are too frightened to publish we on the bloggersphere and other social media can tell the world the truth about Swaziland.

Meanwhile, Mahlaba may find himself in deep trouble. The South Africa National Editors' Forum (Sanef) has said King Mswati and his government must ‘repudiate the prince’s view and, in the absence of such an unequivocal statement, [Sanef] would report the threat to the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the United Nations.’

Sanef said Mahlaba’s accusations against journalists and about how they operated were outrageous and contemptuously rejected, but the threat to kill journalists who wrote critically about the governance and leadership of the country was extremely menacing, designed to intimidate journalists and their publications.

HIV AIDS AND GENDER IN SWAZILAND

The Swazi Observer is the first media house in Swaziland to adopt a policy on HIV AIDS and gender.

All media houses in the kingdom were given the opportunity to take part in a project called the Southern African Media Action Plan on HIV AIDS and Gender (MAP).

MAP is a project to help media houses across southern Africa improve the quality and quantity of HIV AIDS and gender coverage.

A report released at the Media Partners Consultation workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, last Thursday (13 March 2008) revealed that the Swazi Observer, Voice of the Church radio, Swazi TV and SBIS (Radio Swaziland) had all been visited by a MAP consultant in 2007 who worked with the media houses on formulating policy.

The report states that the Swazi Observer has adopted a HIV AIDS and gender policy and was now trying to build up the skills of journalists in these areas.

Swazi TV is ‘the only media house not to have given buy-in to the MAP process in that country,’ the report states. ‘Swazi TV is engaged in a parallel process of drafting their own policy but they said they would consult MAP for editorial aspects of the policy.’

MAP consultants have been working in 11 countries across southern Africa, including Swaziland.

The MAP report revealed that there were some difficulties in getting media houses involved in the project. The report stated that bureaucracy in newsrooms across the region was a difficult factor in making progress.

‘[A]ppointments are reneged on, refusal to release certain information and failure to set dates for workshops. In some cases, because of the high staff turnover in this sector, change of staff (new boards, new editors or journalists etc) almost always means the facilitators have to start the process all over again to ensure new staff members give buy-in to the process,’ the report states.

The MAP project is not the first attempt to increase the awareness and skills of journalists in southern Africa, but it is thought to be the first that also includes gender awareness.

MAP is coordinated by the Southern African National Editors Forum (SANEF) and Gender Links is responsible for part of the project.

See also
BID TO IMPROVE HIV AIDS REPORTING
POOR HIV AIDS REPORTING IN SWAZILAND