SWAZILAND COURT THREATENS JOURNALISTS? High Court judge Mpendulo Simelane seemed to deliberately use an opportunity to deliver judgment to threaten and intimidate the media from scrutinizing judicial conduct in Swaziland on 25 July when in his judgment he said. I am of the firm conviction that a sentence of Two (2) years imprisonment without the option of a fine in each count in respect of Accused 2 and Accused 4 respectively is commensurate with the offences committed and will serve as a deterrent to others, in particular like minded journalists in this country…The Courts hence have to use the very ammunition of Contempt of Court in self-protection from journalists like the Accused persons.” With this judgment HRDS Thulani Maseko, a respected lawyer and Bheki Makhubu, a respected journalists were whisked away to jail for essentially complaining that in their view they thought that the judiciary had not depicted sufficient independence, impartiality and integrity when they dealt with a case involving one Gwebu Bhantshana. They expressed their personal views in their professional capacities and both now pay a big personal price. Commentary The right of freedom of expression is foundational to free societies and is a fundamental ingredient of any democratic society. Its respect is recognized as a necessary condition for the realization of transparency and accountability that are essential for the promotion, protection and realization of human rights. It includes the right to impart information to others in almost any form. It covers both facts and opinions. It protects, subject to carefully prescribed and narrowly interpreted restrictions, not only the substance of ideas or information expressed, but also the tone or manner in which they are conveyed. The judiciary does not operate in a vacuum. It is a public interest institution that must depict certain qualities such as independence, impartiality, integrity and accountability. These qualities are not in contradiction. They are for the benefit of the public and not the judiciary or individual judges themselves. As the ultimate beneficiaries of an independent and impartial judiciary, the public has a right to demand for some degree of accountability in the way judicial matters are handled. It is not possible to demand judicial accountability without sufficient guarantees on the enjoyment of the freedom of expression. It is equally not possible to sufficiently fulfill the requirements of full enjoyment of expression when the media and journalists are muzzled and subjected to all sorts of threats and retribution as seems to be happening in this case. Thulani and Bheki are responsible and caring citizens and therefore need to be released urgently as their continued detention is not justified.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 14:07:19 +0000
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