Swaziland – 20 February 2015

Swaziland: Jailed Journalists Case Goes to UN
By Swazi Media Commentary
Leading international lawyers are asking a United Nations working group to rule whether the jailing of a Swaziland magazine editor and human rights lawyer for publishing articles critical of the kingdom’s judiciary are lawful.
They have filed a petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) in Geneva regarding the cases of Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation magazine and Thulani Maseko, a lawyer and writer.
Swazi Media Commentary

Swazi king: Protect country against democracy
By AFP
Mbabane – Swaziland’s King Mswati III on Thursday urged his subjects to “protect the country” from pro-democracy groups which portrayed a negative image of the nation abroad
Africa’s last absolute monarch told the opening of parliament that such activities had robbed Swaziland of good opportunities.
AFP

King To Lead Fight For An Aids-Free SD By 2022
BY MUSA SIMELANE
LOBAMBA – His Majesty King Mswati III yesterday made a bold declaration that he will personally make sure that Swaziland is HIV/AIDS free when it reaches the First World status.
This means that the country will be free of the epidemic in seven years time if Vision 2022 is to be referred to here. The King made this bold statement at the official opening of the second session of the 10th Parliament yesterday.
He also categorically denounced all HIV stigma and discrimination saying that it must completely come to an end in Swaziland. These assertions were met with deafening cheers by Members of Parliament (MPs) as they were pleasantly surprised.
Times of Swaziland

New Motivation For Aids Money Donors
By James Hall
The data showing that Swaziland’s HIV infection rate has stabalised will encourage more donor funding to invest in our country.
This comes at a time when getting funding for public health emergencies is growing more difficult. Even initial efforts to combat Ebola when the outbreak emerged mid-2014 failed to stir international donors into action.
Swazi Observer

Times newspaper loses defamation case
By Nkululeko Gama
HIGH Court Judge Nkululeko Hlophe delivered another heartbreaking judgment to the country’s media fraternity, ordering the Times of Swaziland to pay E85 000 to former tennis star Boycey Magongo a for defamation. This is in respect of articles the newspaper wrote in January 1999, which allegedly labelled Magongo as a fraudster and conman. Magongo was alleged to have benefitted falsely from monies intended for the Tennis Association.
Swazi Obesever

Swaziland: Jailed Journalist Remains Defiant
By Swazi Media Commentary
The Swaziland human rights lawyer and journalist Thulani Maseko has vowed that he will not seek bail pending an appeal of his jail sentence for contempt of court because he has been imprisoned unjustly.
Maseko and Bheki Makhubu were arrested in March 2014 and subsequently jailed for two years after they wrote and published articles critical of the Swazi judiciary in the Nation magazine.
Swazi media commentary