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Swaziland : CPS Denounces new arrests of pro-democracy leaders – Calls for heightened democracy campaign

D 9 mai 2014     H 05:58     A CPS     C 0 messages


The CPS urges the widest possible condemnation of the arrests of Mario Masuku, the president of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), and Maxwell Dlamini, the general secretary of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO).

This is the second time in recent days that the PUDEMO president and other pro-democracy activists, including CPS members, have been targeted by the Mswati regime. The leaders have been charged with sedition, the usual charge levelled at democracy activists targeted by Mswati’s police.

The regime is clearly clamping down on the pro-democracy movement, and sending a signal to other activists and to the international community that Mswati does not intend to make meaningful democratic reforms, despite pressure from many quarters to do so.

“Mswati is playing a desperate game. His only real option, as he is increasingly cornered, is to lash out blindly. We expect that his suppression of the democracy movement will escalate,” said CPS general secretary Kenneth Kunene on Friday.

“It is really important that the movement closes ranks to make the unbanning of political parties and organisations a reality. The best way to oppose Mswati at the moment is to demand democracy.”