���How do we as journalists report about PUDEMO, for example, without being seen to support them, in contravention of the Suppression of Terrorism Act?” While the media cover a range of topics, the level and depth of coverage is particularly compromised because editors and journalists are wary of offending the monarchy. “Journalists are often called in for ‘friendly chats’ with senior politicians and reminded of their mandate and Swaziland’s history of newspapers being closed down by the powers-that-be.” An article by the Times on Sunday about the king’s homestead being extended – for example – resulted in the paper’s publisher and managing editor being summoned to the royal court, where the king informed them that any stories related to the king’s property did not belong in the newspaper. The Freedom of Expression that is guaranteed in Section 24 (1) and (2) of the 2005 Constitution is offset by Section 24 (3), which imposes restrictions on these freedoms. The arrest and subsequent imprisonment of Bheki Makhubu, editor of the independent monthly magazine, The Nation and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, earlier this year for two separate articles criticising the judiciary has had a dual effect on citizens. On the one hand, “The Makhubu issue has increased the sense of fear that Swazis have for expressing themselves. No one wants to go to jail and eat thin porridge so they rather keep quiet and say nothing.” But on the other hand there are those who have been bolstered to speak out as the Makhubu and Maseko case has conscientised and sensitised citizens to the fact that their freedom of expression is not absolute. “They are beginning to realise the extent of the problems in Swaziland, particularly at a political and judicial level.”1 This resolve to challenge the status quo came to a head by the strike and subsequent demonstrations carried out by the Swaziland National Association of Teachers despite threats by the State to reduce salaries, sack, intimidate, assault and arrest striking teachers. Social media – particularly Facebook and WhatsApp – was effectively used to carry out the seven-week-long teachers’ strike in 2012. 1 8 Since conducting the AMB Swaziland 2014, the editor of The Nation magazine Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani 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 convictions on contempt of court charges on 17 July 2014, for separate news articles each wrote criticising the kingdom’s chief justice, Michael Ramodibedi, published in the independent news magazine, The Nation. The Nation and Independent Publishers were each fined R50,000. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Swaziland 2014