31 October 1997

The case against the four members of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) has been withdrawn. The four were charged with "disrupting the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) process" for attempting to speak at a CRC public hearing in September. They could have faced a maximum prison sentence of five years or a fine of E5000 (R5000).

The lawyer for the four SWAYOCO members, Mr Dominik Mngomezulu, informed the FXI  that the prosecutor had advanced no reasons for withdrawing the charges. However, he said during talks with the prosecutor in a bid to secure the release of items confiscated from the accused, he was informed that the Director of Prosecution, Mr Musa Nsibanaze, had ordered that the confiscated items not be returned to the accused as the State was considering reinstituting the charges against them. Among the items confiscated were a number of SWAYOCO booklets and policy documents of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).

While on the phone with Mr Mngomezulu, eight police officers entered his law firm offices demanding to search the place. They did not produce a warrant nor did they indicate what it was they were searching for.

The FXI strongly protests the continued harrasment of the four SWAYOCO members amid the threat that charges against them may be reinstituted. We further protest the harrasment now being meted out to their legal representative through the raid on his offices this afternoon. We reitterate our demand for the Swazi government to cease its crackdown on political dissent in the Kingdom and to institute political reform and democracy as a matter of urgency. We further call for the scrapping of the law used against the SWAYOCO members as it is clearly a violation of the Swazi people’s right to freedom of expression and speech. We further reitterate our demand for the South African government to place pressure on the Swazi regime to cease its brutal crackdown on political dissent in the Kingdom and to listen to the demands of the people.

Please note, the full names of the four SWAYOCO accused are:
Bongani Masuku
Donald Mshelevu Dhlami
Bormon Mzomba Tsela
Peter Mpandlana Shongwe

Mr Dominik Mngomezulu can be reached in Mbabane at (09268) 54181

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