Disarray in the judiciary as lawyer takes aim at Chief Justice

Legalbrief reports that the plight of lawyer Thulani Maseko and his co-accused Bheki Makhubu continues to shine the spotlight on the kingdom's judiciary - for all the wrong reasons. Maseko and his co-defendant, editor Bheki Makhubu, were arrested by Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi for criticising him in articles published in Makhubu's opinion magazine The Nation. The verdict on the charges is due shortly. By calling for the prosecution of Ramodibedi, Maseko may have given King Mswati's government cause to level the charge of treason against him, says a report in The Mercury. 'I am neither a fan nor supporter of the constitution which itself is inconsistent with the rule of law, and is not a true reflection of the genuine aspirations of the people of Swaziland. It was forcefully imposed,' Maseko said in a statement he read in court, entitled, 'The failure of leadership in Swaziland; the people are treated with contempt'. Ramodibedi stopped the hearing on Wednesday because of Maseko's statement, the report notes. It adds when the trial resumed, the Director of Public Prosecutions submitted an application for the removal of Maseko's statement from the trial record. However, states the report, Maseko had already managed to read the part of his statement in which he accused Swaziland's courts of committing treason by following the dictates of the country's king. 'It has deeply pained our hearts to see this honourable court violate and break every rule of practice in the justice game, as provided for in the Rules of Court and the rules applicable under the criminal justice system,' Maseko said, adding that the court 'has blatantly violated and breached the Constitution of Swaziland, which is supposed to be the supreme law of the land'. Full report in The Mercury

From his first sentence in which he criticised King Mswati's father, King Sobhuza, for 'illegally' overturning Swaziland's Independence Constitution to secure absolute governing power for the royal family, Maseko made clear his statement was a political protest. The Sunday Independent reports that the censored or self-censoring Swazi media reported little of what was said, but the oration was posted on the Internet by the pro-democracy group The Swaziland Solidarity Network. Speaking with passion before a stunned courtroom, Maseko said: 'This court, in collaboration and in an unprecedented conspiracy with the chief justice, the director of public prosecutions, the police, and the government, has concerted to suspend the supremacy of the constitution and the Bill of Rights for egocentric reasons. They have committed the crime of treason.' Having resigned from the courts in his native Lesotho where he still faces criminal charges, Ramodibedi was appointed by Mswati against the dictates of Swaziland's Constitution, which calls for a Swazi Chief Justice. The Swazi Law Society engaged in a three-month strike seeking his removal, but Ramodibedi has the support of the king, whose praises Ramodibedi has sung in court. Full report in The Sunday Independent (subscription needed)

While the trial has received unprecedented international attention, government spokesperson Percy Simelane downplayed the matter when he said: 'It is just a contempt of court trial.' Nevertheless, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, where Maseko studied, has called on the Swaziland judiciary to acquit both Maseko and Makhubu on all charges. It said it regards the charges as orchestrated measures to shut down the voice of democracy in violation of the Constitution. In addition, it expressed concern that both detainees have been denied access to a lawyer 'and that when they were brought before the Chief Justice, the proceedings were held in chambers and therefore closed to the public'. The centre called on the government to abide by its international human rights obligations, under the African Charter and other international instruments, and ensure immediate and unhindered access of the two men to legal counsel and to refrain from instituting prosecutions merely with the purpose of intimidation persons critical of the government, or to stifle free expression.

The US has also expressed deep concern and urged the judiciary to recognise its obligation to uphold the rule of law and provisions regarding the protection and promotion of fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. And South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu and a raft of human rights organisations have signed an open letter demanding reforms from Swaziland's King Mswati III, denouncing arbitrary arrests and prosecutions. 'We write to express our concern about the state of freedom of expression, judicial independence, and the rule of law in the Kingdom of Swaziland,' reads the letter which urged the government 'to begin meaningful discussions with the growing number of citizens and independent organisations that are demanding their basic freedoms and calling for democratic reform in Swaziland'. A report on the News24 site notes that the international group of almost 40 activists, organisations and universities protested against the recent arrests of critical journalists and opposition politicians, which 'demonstrated a disregard for legal procedures and basic human rights'. The group demanded that Mswati 'order the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience and political prisoners detained in Swaziland'. They also called for the removal of Ramodibedi. The judge's actions 'lie at the root of the current crisis',according to the group, which includes academics and law units of universities in South Africa, the US, and France, as well as respected international rights organisations. Full US State Department statement Full report on the News24 site

In other developments, the government has finally sprung into action following reports of irregularities in the payment of allowances for Supreme Court Judges. The Swaziland Observer reports that the Finance Ministry has blocked the allowances of the judges who presided over cases during the recently-ended May 2014 session of the Supreme Court. The affected Judges are Ramodibedi, resident Judge Bheki Maphalala, Justices Seth Twum from Ghana, Ahmed Ebrahim from Zimbabwe, Benjamin Odoki from Uganda and Stanley Moore from Guyana. There were at least 50 cases that the judges were scheduled to preside over and, as has always been the case since Ramodibedi became head of the judiciary, it was expected that they will leave with their payment after the session's conclusion. Full Swaziland Observer report