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International group concerned about press freedom

    JOHANNESBURG

    The media rights watchdog Reporters sans frontiers (RSF) has asked the French government to "broach" the subject of press freedom in Swaziland during an official visit by King
    Mswati III later this week.

    In a letter to Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine yesterday, the
    Paris-based rights group said: "Swaziland's authorities are preparing to lay down a new press law. The existing law already constrains journalists and we have every reason to believe that the new law be much more repressive."

    The letter added: "Knowing that you are attached to press freedom, Reporters sans frontiers hopes that you will be able to broach this subject with his majesty Mswati III."

    RSF's appeal followed the appearance in court on Monday of the former editor of the Sunday edition of the 'Times of Swaziland', Bheki Makhubu, on a charge of criminal defamation. In a 21 September article, Makhubu wrote that the King's 18-year-old fiancée, due to become his eighth wife, had been expelled from two schools. Later in a South African newspaper, he justified his article by saying that he was concerned about the well-being of the Swazi royal family.

    "We fear that angered by this article which involved him directly, the king may decide to impose a very strict system against journalists," RSF said.

    Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Media Institute of Southern African (MISA) told IRIN that MISA was "concerned" about press freedom in Swaziland and would continue to monitor the situation.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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