Swaziland contempt of court under the Criminal Procedures Act. The Prevention of Corruption Act 2006 does protect whistleblowers, but it does not provide specific protection for journalists. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Draft Bill does not contain any protection of confidential sources. SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Average score: 1.0 1.6 (2005=1.0) Public information is easily accessible, guaranteed by law, to all citizens, including journalists. ANALYSIS: There is no freedom of information legislation in Swaziland. The government and public institutions cannot be forced to disclose information of public interest. The Official Secrets Act 1963 makes it entirely the government’s prerogative whether to release information or not, and there is no means of appealing against government decisions. There are no formal procedures for obtaining public information and requests often get caught up in bureaucratic red tape. Information that should be in the public domain, such as the defence budget and the budget of the King’s office, is never disclosed. There is an attempt to introduce freedom of information legislation in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Draft Bill 2007. However, there are concerns that the draft bill contains too many restrictions on accessing information and, in fact, “turns the whole idea of FOI on its head” by opening up ways for the govAfrican Media Barometer - Swaziland 2007 9