International group concerned about press freedom

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.