· ALERT Date: December 03, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Menzi Dlamini, Lwazi Dlamini, Justice Johnson Violation: Beaten, censored On December 3 2005, two journalists were assaulted in their line of duty and another threatened with violence by angry soccer spectators during a skirmish at an abandoned football match at Mhlume stadium, in the east of Swaziland, where two top Premier League clubs, Mbabane Highlanders and RSSC (Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation) F.C were playing. The three journalists, two from the Times of Swaziland newspaper and the other from Channel Swazi, a private TV station, were attacled whilst covering the violent episode. The fans, believed to be those of Highlanders, not only assaulted two of the journalists, but went on to confiscate video tapes from the TV journalist which they believed contained evidence of the violence. Though the case was later reported to the police, the tapes have still not been recovered. Sports Editor Lwazi Dlamini, was threatened and warned not to publish the skirmish. Their TV counterpart, Justice Johnson, was attacked about 100km away from the stadium. · ALERT Date: November 04, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Nation Magazine Violation: Legislation The Nation Magazine, Swaziland’s independent news magazine, is being sued for E5 million (approximately US$829 000) by an Indonesian businessman, Kareem Ashraff, who is based in Swaziland. The lawsuit follows an article published in the November edition of the Nation which criticized Ashraf on his alleged corrupt dealings with the government. Ashraf’s company, Union Supplies, is an official supplier of uniform to Swaziland’s armed forces, particularly the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF). The Nation based its article on a recently published report by the Auditor General which accused a number of local companies, including that of Ashraf, of corruption resulting in government losing millions of Emalangeni through inflated invoices and other underhand and corrupt methods. · ALERT Date: November 03, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Media in Swaziland Violation: Legislation (positive) In what can be considered victory for the media in Swaziland, the government has approved an Information and Media Policy which seeks to provide an enabling media environment in the country which has more than 30 repressive media laws. On 3 November the Minister for Information, Themba Msibi, announced the approval of the Policy to media stakeholders during a meeting at his office. The approval of the Policy means Swaziland has a moved a step towards improving the media environment in Swaziland including the repeal of the 32 repressive media laws currently existing in the country’s statutes. Amongst other things the Policy seeks to free the airwaves, transform the two existing national broadcasters (radio and TV) into public broadcasters, establish an independent broadcasting regulator and media self-regulation and provide for a diverse media. All these issues are what MISA has been advocating for. · ALERT Date: October 26, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Mkhulisi Magongo Violation: Threatened On October 26 2005, “Times of Swaziland” photojournalist Mkhulisi Magongo was threatened with violence and prevented from carrying out his duties by a member of parliament (MP) who was appearing in court on fraud charges. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -114- Media Institute of Southern Africa