The human-rights spotlight shone brightly on
Swaziland in the first quarter of 2015.
International attention has been on two Swazi
journalists Bheki Makhubu and Thulani Maseko, who have spent more than a year
in jail, convicted of contempt of court for writing and publishing articles
critical of the Swazi judiciary in the Nation,
a tiny-circulation monthly comment magazine, Maseko was placed in solitary
confinement in jail after a letter he wrote praising his supporters was widely
circulated on the Internet and in social media. The case of the two journalists
has attracted attention at the United Nations and in the European Union.
This is just one of the stories covered by Swazi
Media Commentary and contained in the compilation of reports called Swaziland:
Striving for Freedom, Volume 17, covering January to March 2015. It is
available to download free of charge from Scribd.org.
Swazi Media Commentary is an Internet site that
offers information and commentary about human rights in Swaziland.
The Swazi state’s clampdown on trade union activity
has also hit the headlines, as police broke up meetings of the Trade Union Congress
of Swaziland (TUCOSWA). Police said they could not go ahead because
participants wanted to discuss how to introduce democracy into the kingdom
ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
King Mswati himself attracted attention for his role
in the collapse of the Ngwenya Iron Mine. The King had taken a US$10
million loan from the company which he refused to pay back when it got into
financial difficulties engineered by the King’s appointee to the board of
directors.
Meanwhile, the King’s private jet was attached by a court in Canada as
part of a business dispute where it is alleged the King owes US$3.5 million in
unpaid debts.
This compilation brings together posts that
originally appeared on the Swazi Media Commentary website. Swazi Media
Commentary website has no physical base and is completely independent of any
political faction and receives no income from any individual or organisation.
People who contribute ideas or write for it do so as volunteers and receive no
payment.
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