PUDEMO STATEMENT – 04 SEPTEMBER 2014 GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION On 6 September, 2014 Swaziland will be celebrating the day it attained independence from British rule. It is on this day that Tinkhundla regime parades its mockery of the free world through claiming that the people of Swaziland enjoy independence when the reality is that the Swazi Nation continues to suffer under the repression of autocracy and it is only the royal Dlamini clan that enjoys freedom where it is not the state that is sovereign but the Monarch. On 6 September 1968 the British handed over power to the royal Dlamini clan and declared to the world that it had freed Swaziland from colonial rule. In absolving itself from the responsibility of ensuring that Swaziland was left in the hand s of the Swazi people, the colonialists carelessly awarded freedom to Swaziland when they were well aware that the odds favoured the royal Dlamini clan, and true to their negligence, five years later Sobhuza II hijacked governance from Ngwane National Liberation Congress (NNLC) which at the time hadn’t had enough time to establish itself as viable competition to Imbokodvo which had installed the Monarch as its head in order to increase the odds to its favour. As we embark on the global week of action PUDEMO calls upon the world to recognise and condemn the violence and misrule that obtains in Swaziland. PUDEMO joins fellow Swazis and the International community in a number of activities organised by SUDF, Swaziland Democracy Campaign, and the International community. PUDEMO calls upon all to be conscious that there are two prisoners of conscious in the persons of magazine editor Bheki Makhubu and Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko who have been recently slapped with sentences of two years imprisonment without an option of a fine for contempt of court which is a charge that carries not more than thirty days imprisonment in the free world. The two are accused of writing “scurrilous” articles with the claim that they were scandalising the courts when the content of the articles is clearly healthy criticism which is promoted in countries where freedom of expression is tolerated. PUDEMO calls upon all to be conscious that there is a political prisoner that has been slapped with 85 years prison sentence for trying to give support to the Swazi people. Amos Mbedzi has been caged like an animal and his visitations have been limited to only a few family members, which has left the pro democratic community in the dark on his welfare and health condition. PUDEMO calls upon all to be conscious of the continued incarceration of PUDEMO President Mario Masuku and SWAYOCO secretary General Maxwell Dlamini who is also a student leader. The President’s health condition continues to deteriorate under horrible prison conditions and Maxwell Dlamini continues to be refused to sit for his examination at the University of Swaziland. The two are on Terrorism and Sedition charges that carry a maximum sentence of twenty years. PUDEMO calls upon all to be conscious of seven PUDEMO members who are currently out on stringent bail conditions for wearing t-shirts inscribed PUDEMO, who were slapped with Terrorism and Sedition charges which carry a maximum of twenty years imprisonment. PUDEMO calls upon all to be conscious of the conviction of Zonke Dlamini who is serving a fifteen year sentence after being convicted on almost non-existent evidence. There are also a good number of PUDEMO political activists who continue to be detained on the outside and have been forced to adhere to bail conditions that were enforced as far back as 2006. Mswati III’s regime continues to maintain the Swazi Nation in a subservient state and as much as the flawed constitution allows freedom of expression, and freedom of Assembly, the Tinkhundla regime’s security forces continue to clamp down on freewill where recently textile workers were stopped from holding a prayer meeting because union leaders were scheduled to talk during the event. Swaziland has lost a very beneficial free trade agreement with the United States of America, in the form of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Instead of adhering to the conditions that come with the trade agreement, which has sustained the livelihood of an estimated 150 thousand Swazis, the government has embarked on a game of finding fault elsewhere when the powers to adhere to the conditions lie with it. PUDEMO demands the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. It also demands that the Tinkhundla regime should adhere to all the human rights conventions that it is a signatory to and to abide by the rule of law. It demands the restoration of the integrity of the judiciary which has been hijacked and abused to settle political scores. Issued by: The people’s Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) Contact: Brian Ntshangase (Spokesperson) Phone : +27 81 091 2364 Email: ntshangase.b@hotmail
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 06:17:06 +0000
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