Swaziland rant and released Makhubu and Maseko were released. It was a short lived reprieve. Three days later Justice Mpendulo Simelane reordered the arrest of Makhubu and Maseko based on an appeal by Justice Ramodibedi, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Attorney’s General Office, against Justice Dlamini’s decision. (Judge Simelane has been since charged with corruption and defeating the ends of justice.). After the pair had been detained for more than three months without bail, Judge Simelane sentenced Makhubu and Maseko to two years in jail without the option of a fine. According to news reports, the judge said the term was meant to be a deterrent to other journalists. The government should stop using the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act and the Suppression of Terrorism Act to impede media freedoms. In appealing their re-arrest, the two argued that the state did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt pertaining to the offense of contempt of court, as they lacked sufficient evidence to satisfy the elements of the offense. Makhubu and Maseko also submitted that both counts were an unjustifiable limit to the right to freedom of expression. Justice Simelane convicted Makhubu and Maseko for contempt of court. He then sentenced both defendants to two years of prison without benefit of bail, and fined The Nation and the publishers of the magazine. Makhubu and Maseko appealed the decision in the Supreme Court and were released 15 months after their rearrest. Global network of CSOs call for media freedom Lawyers in Swaziland and an international human rights group have jointly called for media freedom in the kingdom to be respected. In a submission to the United Nations they called for an end to media censorship in the kingdom and for more independent newspapers and media houses to be allowed to operate in Swaziland. The call comes jointly from CIVICUS, a global network of civil society organisations and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world, and Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) (LHRS), a nonpartisan group of lawyers that advocates for the respect of human rights and promotes good governance, the rule of law and democracy. The report is to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland that is to investigate Swaziland’s record on human rights in 2016. So This is Democracy? 2015 69