Swaziland human rights lawyer and journalist Thulani Maseko who was
placed in solitary
confinement in jail after a letter he had written circulated on the
Internet has filed an application in the Swazi High Court to have the decision
declared unconstitutional.
Maseko with
Bheki Makhubu is serving two years in jail for contempt of court for
writing and publishing articles in the Nation
magazine in Swaziland critical of the kingdom’s judiciary.
In March
2015, on the first anniversary of his imprisonment a letter written in jail by Maseko was published on the
Internet.
As a
result he was placed in solitary confinement for 21 days.
In an
affidavit, Maseko stated the decision condemning him to solitary confinement
was unconstitutional because it was taken without giving him a fair trial and adequate
opportunity to be heard.
The
statement added, ‘No witnesses were led to show and prove the commission of the
alleged offence. The letter which was alleged I wrote was never produced and
tendered as evidence by the prosecutor before and to the inquiry tribunal.’
It added,
‘In finding me guilty and sentencing me to solitary confinement, the tribunal,
therefore, solely relied on the verbal submissions of the prosecutor.’
No date
has been announced for the High Court hearing.
See also
SWAZI
JOURNALIST’S PRISON LETTER
SUPPORT
FOR JAILED SWAZI JOURNALISTS
JAILED WRITER IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
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