Newspaper shut down

Swaziland's state-owned daily, 'The Swaziland Observer', has been shutdown by the government over a string of critical reports by the newspaper.

Raashied Galant from the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) told IRIN on Friday: "A meeting was called on Thursday afternoon. The chairman of the board then walked in and told staff that the newspaper was being shutdown with immediate effect. He told staff to vacate the building and that the
police had been called in."

Galant said that staff had no idea as to why the meeting was called, and that all journalist were told to be at the meeting including those from outside the capital, Mbabane.

According to Galant, the action stems from a number of reports in the newspaper that have been critical of the government and that "angered the King". Galant said that the most recent was regarding a letter which the newspaper published in which Swaziland's commissioner of police, Edgar Hillary, asked former South African police commissioner, George Fivaz, to help combat drug dealing in Swaziland.

The journalist who wrote the article, Thulani Mthethwa, was asked to appear before a committee of inquiry and asked where he got the letter. Mthethwa refused and, according to Galant, was warned that he could face criminal charges or a High Court order because of his refusal to disclose his source.