SECTOR 1 “Freedom of expression in Swaziland is thus not absolute and the Constitution is so broadly worded that it is difficult to define what measure of public morality is being violated, for example.” Section 79 of the Constitution states that Swaziland’s system of governance is “a democratic, participatory, tinkhundla-based system”, meaning that the power of the state (the king) is devolved to the tribal tinkhundla areas through the various chiefs. Practically, this means that the 55 members of the House of Assembly are elected by community members - in the primary election this is done at chiefdom level and in the secondary election it is a process at inkhundla level (the inkhundla is comprised of several chiefdoms). There is indirect influence from the chief who can either confirm that a person is from a particular constituency (as part of the quaifications for candidacy) or he can promote certain candidates while discrediting others 9for example, in a case where q chief basically ‘decampaigned’ a woman from being nominated, on the basis of her being a widow). The king appoints the remaining 10 parliamentarians. The monarch also appoints 20 of the country’s 30 senators, while the remainder are selected by the House of Assembly. Legally, chiefs cannot be nominated to stand for election through the electoral process. However, the King is able to, and often does, appoint chiefs as part of the 10 and 20 members he appoints to the House and Senate respectively. The passing of legislation is only possible when the King consents to Bills. Technically, parliamentarians cannot pass legislation without the King’s assent, so even if the Bills have been passed by the House of Assembly and the Senate, they remain Bills and constitutionally cannot become law until the king has signed the Bill as a demonstration of his assent. This power of assent allows the king to veto Bills that parliament has passed without recourse for another process to have them passed and enacted. Of particular relevance to the AMB discussion was the ongoing court case between the state and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and editor of the independent monthly magazine The Nation, Bheki Makhubu. Both men were charged with contempt of court for writing articles in February and March 2014 criticising the kingdom’s chief justice, Michael Ramodibedi and calling on the judiciary to uphold freedom of expression and the rule of law. The articles were published in the independent news magazine, The Nation. At the time of the AMB the pair had been behind bars for more than 115 days and awaiting judgement. Since conducting the AMB, and in the process of writing this report, Makhubu and Maseko were sentenced to two years in prison, without the option of a fine. The sentence was handed down by Judge Mpendulo Simelane in the Mbabane High Court in Swaziland on 25 July 2014, and follows Makhubu and Maseko’s AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Swaziland 2014 13