On March 7 2007, the High Court of Swaziland dismissed a E750 000 (approx. US$100 000) lawsuit against the Times of Swaziland newspaper filed by the Minister for Education, Themba Msibi. The case was dismissed on grounds that the wrong parties were cited in the particulars of claim. Msibi, ex-Minister for Public Service and Information, was suing the Times for alleged defamation. This followed a commentary by the editor of the Swazi News, a weekend edition under the Times stable, published on November 24, 2004. The Minister claimed in the court papers that the contents of the article defamed him; hence, his demand for E750 000 as compensation. Acting Chief Justice, Jacobus Annandale, ruled that the wrong people were cited in the particulars of claim and therefore he dismissed the case with costs. In his papers the Minister had cited the Times of Swaziland (PTY) Ltd, the Managing Editor Martin Dlamini and African Echo, which owns the Times. Upon learning that the wrong parties were cited, the Minister’s lawyer applied for the postponement of the case to enable them to amend their papers. However, the lawyer representing the Times objected. The judge then dismissed the case with costs. The Minister’s attorney has said they will file new papers with the correct citations soon to proceed with their claim. • ALERT Date: March 7, 2007 Persons: Times of Swaziland Violation: Censored On March 7, 2007, the Times of Swaziland, Swaziland’s only independent newspaper, received a letter of demand for E3 million (approx. US $430 000) from the Minister for Health and Social Welfare for alleged defamation. This follows shortly after another lawsuit against the newspaper in which a E750 000 (approx. US $100 000) claim by The Minister for Education was dismissed by the High Court of Swaziland. Minister Mabuza alleges in a letter of demand that he was defamed in an article published by the Times on December 22, 2006, in which he was said to have been involved in an HIV/Aids scam. He claimed the article was defamatory to his person in that, among other things, he was said to have been directly involved in a scam which involved a E700 million fake AIDS cure bid. He said the word ‘scam’ denoted that he had a fraudulent intent. The Minister further claimed that the article highlighted that he was plotting to involve Swazi citizens as guinea pigs in experiments to find a cure for AIDS using goat serum. “Publication of the foregoing carries a further innuendo and sting that the Minister in his capacity as custodian of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare was acting in breach of his duty as health and social welfare minister and to the detriment of the Swazis generally,” states the letter of demand. He said his dignity and reputation was seriously impaired and tainted by the report. • ALERT Date: March 2, 2007 Persons: Times of Swaziland Managing Editor Martin Dlamini; reporter Nhlanhla Mathunjwa Violation: Threatened On March 2, 2007, controversial church pastor Justice Dlamini threatened two journalists with death through divine intervention. Dlamini shocked a church gathering, which also included Cabinet Ministers, when he declared from the pulpit that he was praying for the death of two journalists, Times of Swaziland So This Is Democracy? 2007 -96- Media Institute of Southern Africa