Musa Ngubeni, the democracy activist in Swaziland / eSwatini, has been jailed
for seven years with four of them suspended for possession of explosives.
His case took eight years to conclude and the
conviction has been criticised for lack of evidence.
Ngubeni was an activist with the banned Swaziland
Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) and the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).
In Swaziland political parties cannot contest elections and groups campaigning for
democracy are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Ngubeni was found guilty and sentenced by Piggs Peak Magistrate
Joe Gumedze. Swaziland which is ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s
last absolute monarch does not have jury trials.
Ngubeni was arrested together with student leader
Maxwell Dlamini in 2011 and charged with contravening the Explosives Act. They
were both arrested during protests against the government which is not elected
but handpicked by King Mswati.
According to Ngubeni and Dlamini they were subjected
to torture during their interrogation. They were both released on bail in
2012 under strict conditions, including having to report to the police four
times a week. Their trial resumed in 2014, where Dlamini
was acquitted.
Peter
Kenworthy of Kenworthy News Media who has followed the case since 2011 reported
Ngubeni
and Dlamini both insisted that the charges against them were fabricated and
political, and that the state had stalled their case for three years due to
lack of evidence.
A mysterious brown shoe box, that was allegedly found near Ngubeni’s
home in Mbikwakhe when he was arrested in 2011 and was supposed to have
contained explosives, detonators and wires, was never produced in court.
Initially a witness for the prosecution had claimed that the box was too
dangerous to bring to court. Later the box was claimed to have exploded after a
South African bomb expert had tried to assemble it.
Kenworthy reported the trial has been described as a
farce by Swaziland’s democratic movement. Amongst other things because
testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were untruthful and contradicted each
other, because the pair were interrogated by what appeared to be hired South
African Police investigators without the presence of Ngubeni’s and Dlamini’s
lawyers, and because Ngubeni and Dlamini appeared in court on occasion without
legal representation.
Following Ngubeni’s conviction, SWAYOCO
said in a statement the Mswati government tried to deliberately delay and
prolong the case to procure ample time to manufacture false evidence for his
conviction.
The Communist
Party of Swaziland said in a statement, ‘If there is any individual who
still doubts that Swaziland’s judiciary remains one of Mswati’s tools through
which he suppresses the people of Swaziland, then Ngubeni’s case should be the
ultimate illustration point.’
See also
Profile
of Musa Ngubeni
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/06/profile-of-musa-ngubeni.html
‘Lack of evidence in bomb case’
‘Lack of evidence in bomb case’
Court
case against activists a ‘farce’
