CPJ denounces crackdown on two independent papers

(CPJ/IFEX) – In an 11 May 2001 letter to King Mswati III, CPJ expressed its grave concern over the unwarranted suspensions of the weekly “Guardian” and the monthly “Nation”, two independent publications based in the Swazi capital, Mbabane. On 2 May, police arrested the “Guardian”‘s editor, Thulani Mthethwa, and drove him to police headquarters in […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In an 11 May 2001 letter to King Mswati III, CPJ expressed its grave concern over the unwarranted suspensions of the weekly “Guardian” and the monthly “Nation”, two independent publications based in the Swazi capital, Mbabane.

On 2 May, police arrested the “Guardian”‘s editor, Thulani Mthethwa, and drove him to police headquarters in Mbabane where he was interrogated at length over stories in his newspaper about activities in King Mswati III’s palace. He was released after several hours.

On 4 May, the newly appointed Registrar of Newspapers, Sam Malinga, ordered the “Guardian” to cease publishing immediately, saying that the publication was not lawfully registered with his office. The same day, police impounded all the copies of the current issue of the “Guardian” at the South African border (the paper is printed in Middleburg, South Africa) and sent them to police headquarters in Mbabane.

That week’s issue of the “Guardian” included reports on King Mswati III’s health, as well as on rumors that he was poisoned by his first wife. The “Guardian” had earlier published a photograph of the queen crying at the Mbabane airport as she prepared to board a plane for London, allegedly because King Mswati III had expelled her from the royal palace. The latest edition of the monthly “Nation” also carried similar reports.

Lawyers for the “Guardian” filed an urgent application with Chief Justice Stanley Sapire on 4 May, seeking to recover the impounded copies of the paper and asking for injunctions against confiscation of any further copies. After hearing the lawyer’s argument, Judge Sapire reserved his decision until 12 May. Meanwhile, however, in a so-called Extraordinary Gazette Order, Information Minister Dlamini suspended both the “Guardian” and the “Nation”. The minister cited Section 3 of the Proscribed Publications Act of 1968, which gives his office unlimited powers to ban or suspend publications that do not conform with “Swazi morality and ideals.”

Editors for the “Guardian” and the “Nation” were due to appear in court on 11 May.

CPJ’s sources in Swaziland believe the function of the Registrar of Newspapers is to inhibit the work of the independent press. Evidence of this is the fact that the new Registrar was appointed in an ad hoc fashion on 3 May, only a day before he took action against the “Guardian”. Malinga’s position had been vacant for over forty years, sources in Mbabane told CPJ. Immediately after his appointment, he announced that only publications that had been in existence for at least five years would be allowed to register under the Books and Newspapers Act of 1963. (Only the state-owned “Swazi Observer” and the pro-government “Times of Swaziland” fit this requirement.)

Under Malinga’s order, newspapers that were launched in the past five years would have to cease operation immediately. This decision evidently targeted the “Guardian” and the “Nation”, both of which were created in recent months and had obtained publication licenses from the Registrar of Companies.

CPJ denounces the suspension of these two independent publications, an action the organisation believes to be part of an orchestrated campaign to root out critical voices in the kingdom. Both the “Guardian” and the “Nation” are known to support democratic government in Swaziland; both are critical of the fact that King Mswati III has governed by decree since the suspension of Swaziland’s constitution in 1973.

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Appeals To

APPEALS TO:

His Royal Highness King Mswati III

The Kingdom of Swaziland

Mbabane, Swaziland

Fax: +268 6 43943
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.