A teacher was arrested and
threatened by Swaziland (eSwatini) police because of comments he made on social
media, in the latest in a continuing clampdown
on free speech in the kingdom.
Majahembuso Dlamini, 35, a
teacher at Nhlangano was arrested by army and para-military police on Saturday
morning (2 May 2020). He was taken to the local police station.
In a statement his
trade union the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) said they
were ‘armed to the teeth’. Police had been searching for Dlamini since Thursday
when he posted comments on WhatsApp about a road accident that day that claimed
the lives of 11 police officers and a truck driver.
SNAT reported Dlamini said that
at the police station he was sworn at and threatened. He believed only the
unexpected arrival at the station of the Regional Commander saved him. ‘I had
been told I’ll spend the rest of the night in their holding cells where I was
to be taught a lesson,’ he said.
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Majahembuso Dlamini
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SNAT officials attended the
police station. Secretary-General Sikelela Dlamini said, ‘We demanded that they
provide evidence to substantiate the essence of their conduct and they failed.
We can’t have a situation whereby state security agents are a law unto
themselves, intimidating our members as they do.’
In its statement SNAT said,
‘It is reported that upon releasing him, a word of caution was sent to the
teacher by the cops as they intimated that more Swazis are yet to face wrath of
the cops.’
Swaziland has seen an
unprecedented clampdown on free speech on websites and social media in recent
weeks. On Thursday the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) called on Swaziland to ‘stop intimidating and harassing local
journalists for reporting critically about King Mswati III’. It added they
should allow to write freely without the threat of treason charges.
The call came after police raided
the home of Eugene Dube, the editor and publisher of the privately-owned news
website Swati Newsweek, and seized his three mobile phones, a
laptop, and work documents.
Dube was taken to the same
police station as Majahembuso Dlamini, Nhlangano, where they interrogated him
about articles he published about King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as an
absolute monarch.
Also, on 24 April 24, a
police officer in Matsapha went to the home of Mfomfo Nkhambule, a Swati
Newsweek reporter who wrote one of the articles that Dube was
questioned about. They took him to a local police station and interrogated him
for two hours.
Dube told CPJ that police
were unable to find Mthobisi Ntjangase, the reporter who had written the other
article about the king.
The journalists said they
were questioned about an 8 April opinion
piece by Nkhambule, entitled “King Reckless on Swazis’
Health,” which accused the government of failing to adequately respond to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and an 14 April article by Ntjangase, based on an interview with Ncamiso
Ngcamphalala the president of the
Economic Freedom Fighters of Swaziland, a new political group, who said that ‘removing
the king is possible’.
Ngcamphala was himself arrested
by Swaziland police on Saturday (2 May 2020), according to reports on social
media. At the time of compiling this report no further details were available.
After his release, police
warned Dube that their investigation was still ongoing and said they would
return if he continued to criticize the king. Dube said that they kept his
devices for further investigation.
Police commissioner William
Dlamini on 24 April threatened that authorities would come down hard on
journalists who wrote negatively about Mswati III and said the law would take
its course, the privately-owned weekly publication Independent
News reported.
In a statement sent to CPJ,
government spokesperson Sabelo Dlamini alleged that Dube operated
an unregistered media outlet and denied that the journalists were being
persecuted for criticizing the king.
See also
Wife of Swaziland King’s critic seeks court order
to stop police harassing, beating her
‘No
media freedom’ in Swaziland, Reporters Without Borders annual report states
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/04/no-media-freedom-in-swaziland-reporters.html
Swaziland journalist critical of absolute monarch, beaten, arrested, faces treason charge
Swaziland journalist critical of absolute monarch, beaten, arrested, faces treason charge
Swaziland
journalist ‘tortured by police after criticising absolute monarch in newspaper
articles’
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-journalist-tortured-by-police.html
Newspaper editor flees Swaziland for second time after arrest and police torture
Newspaper editor flees Swaziland for second time after arrest and police torture
‘Attempt
made to poison journalist critic of Swaziland’s absolute monarch,’ editor says
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