Swaziland’s only independent comment magazine has been banned
from a jail in the kingdom because it is ‘political’, while the newspaper in
effect owned by King Mswati is allowed.
The Nation
magazine, which is currently at the centre
of a High Court case involving freedom of the media, is banned at Zakhele
Remand Centre, where a number of pro-democracy activists are in jail awaiting trial.
The ban came to light after visitors to the remand centre
took a copy of the magazine and copies of Swaziland’s only two daily newspapers,
the Times of Swaziland and the Swazi Observer to give to members of the
Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) and the People’s United Democratic Movement
(PUDEMO) who are incarcerated awaiting trial.
The Observer is a
newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch. Media in Swaziland are heavily censored with
nearly all radio and television controlled by the state. The Nation is considered to be the only truly
independent journalism in the kingdom. Its editor Bheki Makhubu and a writer Thulani
Maseko
are presently in court on contempt charges after writing and publishing
articles critical of the Swazi judiciary.
The Times
of Swaziland reported that
correctional officers refused to allow the Nation
to be handed to inmates because it ‘was political and as such was not allowed
into the facility’.
The newspaper reported that Correctional Services Public
Relations Officer (PRO) Bongani Khumalo confirmed the fact that the magazine
was not allowed into the remand centre.
The newspaper reported Khumalo saying, ‘The officer in
charge at Zakhele used his discretion not to allow the magazine into the
facility as it would not only be read by the two men but by all the other men
they share a cell with.’
He denied that the magazine was branded as political,
stating that officers did not know what constituted political reading material.
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