boiler
16th September 2013, 19:05
Communist Party leader arrested during election boycott campaign
September 16, 2013
September 15, 2013 On September 14, Swazilands police special unit Lukhozi arrested Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) deputy general secretary Musa Dube while he was campaigning for a boycott of the elections being staged by the regime of King Mswati on September 20.
Comrade Dube has been confined at the notorious Manzini police station, and is due to appear in court this week on a charge of sedition.
The CPS has called for his immediate release, and for all progressive organisations and parties to condemn Dubes arrest and detention.
Sedition is the term Mswati uses to describe pro-democracy work, said CPS general secretary in response to news of the arrest. Our comrade was conducting campaign work to promote the message that the only elections that should be held in Swaziland are free and fair ones, where all political are able to take part on whatever platform they want. Mswatis elections are the exact opposite of that. They are merely a way of selecting who will serve him best.
The police have been closely monitoring CPS activity against the elections. For days they had shadowed Dube and a fellow activist, who was with him, before moving in. His fellow comrade managed to escape. Dube allegedly had a PUDEMO (Peoples United Democratic Movement) t-shirt in his possession at the time of his arrest.
The intimidation of activists campaigning for a boycott of the elections increased following a go-ahead recently by police commissioner Issac Magagula, who opined about the threat to the elections by groups and individuals.
The Mswati regime has been buoyed in its elections sham by the generally uncritical and permissive attitude to them by most African states, the Southern African Development Community, and the international community. Only a week ago, the British think tank Chatham House timed a visit to Swaziland to voice general approval for the elections and against the pro-democracy movements opposition to them.
Despite this, most Swazis are aware that the elections are a silly game of Mswatis, said Kunene. No one believes that they are about improving anything in the country.
Maybe if Swaziland was strategically important and a larger country, you would see heavyweight nations and others, and even some supposedly progressive forces, gushing about the aching need for democracy. But since it isnt they are not really interested, and theyre happy to see things remain more or less as they are.
Kunene said that the arrest of Musa Dube must be condemned as a human-rights violation.
We urge progressive organizations and individuals everywhere to slam this act of intimidation. And they must be vigilant in the days leading up to the elections. We are bound to see more police harassment of people who protest against the elections.
MORE
http://links.org.au/node/3517
September 16, 2013
September 15, 2013 On September 14, Swazilands police special unit Lukhozi arrested Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) deputy general secretary Musa Dube while he was campaigning for a boycott of the elections being staged by the regime of King Mswati on September 20.
Comrade Dube has been confined at the notorious Manzini police station, and is due to appear in court this week on a charge of sedition.
The CPS has called for his immediate release, and for all progressive organisations and parties to condemn Dubes arrest and detention.
Sedition is the term Mswati uses to describe pro-democracy work, said CPS general secretary in response to news of the arrest. Our comrade was conducting campaign work to promote the message that the only elections that should be held in Swaziland are free and fair ones, where all political are able to take part on whatever platform they want. Mswatis elections are the exact opposite of that. They are merely a way of selecting who will serve him best.
The police have been closely monitoring CPS activity against the elections. For days they had shadowed Dube and a fellow activist, who was with him, before moving in. His fellow comrade managed to escape. Dube allegedly had a PUDEMO (Peoples United Democratic Movement) t-shirt in his possession at the time of his arrest.
The intimidation of activists campaigning for a boycott of the elections increased following a go-ahead recently by police commissioner Issac Magagula, who opined about the threat to the elections by groups and individuals.
The Mswati regime has been buoyed in its elections sham by the generally uncritical and permissive attitude to them by most African states, the Southern African Development Community, and the international community. Only a week ago, the British think tank Chatham House timed a visit to Swaziland to voice general approval for the elections and against the pro-democracy movements opposition to them.
Despite this, most Swazis are aware that the elections are a silly game of Mswatis, said Kunene. No one believes that they are about improving anything in the country.
Maybe if Swaziland was strategically important and a larger country, you would see heavyweight nations and others, and even some supposedly progressive forces, gushing about the aching need for democracy. But since it isnt they are not really interested, and theyre happy to see things remain more or less as they are.
Kunene said that the arrest of Musa Dube must be condemned as a human-rights violation.
We urge progressive organizations and individuals everywhere to slam this act of intimidation. And they must be vigilant in the days leading up to the elections. We are bound to see more police harassment of people who protest against the elections.
MORE
http://links.org.au/node/3517