Two Swaziland political prisoners freed

This video says about itself:

Human Rights a problem in Swaziland: Amnesty International

4 September 2014

Rights groups are calling on Swazi authorities to stop using the criminal justice system as a tool of repression. This comes after the jail terms recently handed down to newspaper editor Bhekithemba Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Swaziland: Democrats hail two prisoners’ release

Friday 3rd July 2015

PRO-DEMOCRACY campaigners have welcomed the release of two prominent political prisoners by Swaziland’s royalist regime this week.

Human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and Nation newspaper editor Bheki Makhubu were released on Tuesday after almost a year in prison.

The two had been locked up since July 2014 as part of a crackdown on freedom of expression and the press by the government of King Mswati III.

They were convicted of contempt of court for publishing articles criticising threats to judicial independence.

The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) hailed their release as “an important outcome of intense campaigning by organisations worldwide, governments and trade unions.”

While the government claimed that courts were there to “prosecute, not persecute,” the CPS pointed to the sacking of senior judges Michael Ramodibedi, whom the prisoners criticised, and Mpendulo Simelane, who sentenced them.