Swaziland: press freedom crisis

Swaziland is going through its worst media freedom crisis in living memory following the conviction of a magazine editor for writing and publishing material that criticised the courts and judiciary. The Swazi High Court fined Bheki Makhubu and the Swaziland Independent Publishers (PTY) Ltd (the editor and publisher of the Nation magazine) E400,000 (US$22,000) with half of the fine suspended. Makhubu was ordered to pay E200,000 within three days or immediately be sent to jail for two years.

ARE JOURNALISTS NOT PERMITTED TO CRITICISE?

Makhubu had been convicted of ‘scandalising the court’ for writing and publishing two articles in ‘The Nation’ in 2009 and 2010 that were critical of the judiciary and in particular of Chief Justice, Michael Ramodibedi. High Court Judge Bheki Maphalala said in his ruling that some of Makhubu’s writings were ‘treasonous if not subversive in the extreme.’ Makhubu has lodged an appeal to the Swaziland Supreme Court and is waiting for a date for a hearing to be set.

The ‘Nation’ is a small circulation monthly comment magazine that is the only media outlet in the kingdom that regularly calls the powerful in Swaziland to account. Makhubu told journalists the magazine would not be able to pay the fine and might have to close as a result. A fund-raising drive has been launched by the Swaziland National Association of Journalists to pay the fine, should the Supreme Court appeal fail.

The court ruling attracted condemnation both inside and outside Swaziland. Among groups publicly protesting were the Media Institution of Southern Africa, Freedom House, Campaign to Protect Journalists, Centre for Human Rights, South African National Editors’ Forum and Reporters Without Borders. They say freedom of the expression is enshrined in the kingdom’s constitution.

MEDIA SUPPRESSION AND THE MUZZLING OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Political parties in Swaziland, including the banned People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), were quick to point out that the media clampdown was only part of the general abuse of human rights that has taken place since 1973, when King Sobhuza II abandoned the Constitution and began to rule by decree. The decree has not been rescinded despite the new Constitution being put in place in 2005. King Sobhuza’s son, Mswati III presently rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Media freedom does not exist in Swaziland. Freedom House, an international human rights monitoring organisation, in its annual reports regularly labels the kingdom as ‘not free.’ The assault on the ‘Nation’ is the most extreme attack on press freedom in Swaziland in recent years, but it is not unique in the kingdom.

In the relatively small media landscape nearly all broadcasting is state controlled and news and current affairs programming is heavily censored. The exception is one TV station that voluntarily censors itself on matters relating to the king and one radio station that does not carry news.

TWO NEWSPAPER GROUPS IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY

There are only two newspaper groups in Swaziland: the ‘Swazi Observer’ is owned by a conglomerate of companies that is overseen by the king and is on public record saying it will never publish anything that would undermine the king and the traditionalists who support him.

The Times of Swaziland group is independent of the state but nonetheless exercises heavy self-censorship. In April 2007, after it published an article using material from an international news agency that was mildly critical of the king, King Mswati summoned the newspaper’s publisher Paul Loffler, who is based in Namibia, to him and threatened to close the newspaper down unless he received an abject public apology and those who were responsible for allowing the article to be published were dismissed. The Times did as it was told and has redoubled its efforts since to ensure nothing critical of the king appears in its pages.

A report just published by the US State Department into human rights issues in Swaziland in 2012 noted, ‘The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, but the king may deny these rights at his discretion, and the government restricted these rights during the year. Officials impeded press freedom. Although no law bans criticism of the monarchy, the prime minister and other officials warned journalists that publishing such criticism could be construed as an act of sedition or treason, and media organizations were threatened with closure for criticizing the monarchy.’

The report added, ‘The law empowers the government to ban publications if they are deemed ‘prejudicial or potentially prejudicial to the interests of defense, public safety, public order, public morality, or public health.’

Elections are due in Swaziland this year, although the parliament that is elected has no power and is seen outside of the kingdom as a ‘rubber stamp’ for King Mswati.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa, Swaziland chapter, expressed serious concern about Makhubu’s conviction and sentence. The organisation’s Programme Specialist for Media Freedom Monitoring and Research, Levi Kabwato, in a statement described the development as, ‘a major setback for media freedom and freedom of expression in Swaziland.’ He also called on journalists, media practitioners and free expression activists around the world to support the call for media freedom in Swaziland.

‘With elections due in the country later this year, the media’s role will become ever so critical, but if that media is under the threat of legal sanction, or indeed other threats as we have recorded previously, then this is only the beginning of what is likely to be a very problematic period for Swazi media,’ Kabwato said.

*Richard Rooney blogs as Swazi Media Commentary www.swazimedia.blogspot.com
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