Four democracy campaigners in Swaziland (eSwatini) whose
homes were raided by police and had phones and other gadgets confiscated appeared
in the High Court to argue that the raids were illegal.
They said the search warrants used were not valid.
The four were Sibongile Mazibuko, Musa Nkambule, Jan Sithole and Wandile
Dludlu. They are leaders of various political groups in Swaziland where King
Mswati III rules as absolute monarch. They all belong to the recently-formed Political
Parties Assembly (PPA). Political parties are banned from taking part in
elections and groups that campaign for democracy are outlawed under the Suppression
of Terrorism Act.
Police
raided homes of political activists across Swaziland after warrants were
issued on 25 November and 19 December 2019.
The four said that the search warrants were illegal because they did not
specify what the police were looking for. They also said the warrants were
issued by magistrates who did not have authority to do so.
The case was heard on Wednesday (8 January 2020). A ruling
is expected on 24 January 2020.
The Swaziland United Democratic Front, one of the
groups targeted in the police raids, in a statement circulated on social media at
the time, said, ‘This comes weeks after the all progressive formations in the
country resolved to unite under the banner of the Political Party Assembly to
fight against the Tinkhundla regime. This led to the start of a campaign that
was dubbed #MSWATI MUST FALL and has since been gaining momentum and meeting
equal resistance from the autocratic regime.’
The Southern
Africa Litigation Centre in a statement said, ‘We are
concerned by the actions of the police, which appear to be targeted at those
activists who have been prominently involved in protests relating to workers’
rights and who have been promoting multi-party democracy and government
accountability in the country.’
See also
Swaziland
police in mass raids on homes of democracy activists, some detained
Swaziland
police say they raided democracy activists’ homes for ‘state security’
Police
question Swaziland political leader amid fears of treason charge
Swaziland
ex-Govt minister in hiding after calling on absolute monarch to hand over power
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