- Amnesty International condemns the jail sentences given to two pro-democracy lawmakers in Eswatini.
- The former MPs, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were arrested in July 2021.
- The US embassy also expresses concerns about the sentences.
The US embassy in the small southern African kingdom also expressed concerns about the sentences announced on Monday, three years after Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were arrested on charges of murder and "terrorism."
The Eswatini High Court sentenced Mabuza to 25 years in jail and Dube to 18 years. Both maintained their innocence on all charges before their conviction in 2023. They were arrested in July 2021 during pro-democracy protests that police violently quashed, resulting in dozens of deaths.
“Eswatini authorities must immediately quash the unjust and baseless convictions and sentences of the former members of parliament,” said Amnesty deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa, Vongai Chikwanda.
“Their convictions and sentences stem solely from the peaceful exercise of their human rights,” Chikwanda said in a statement, labeling the jailing a “blatant attempt to suppress peaceful dissent.”
The former MPs had been advocating for pro-democracy reforms in the kingdom of around 1.2 million people, where most live in poverty. King Mswati III, who has been in power since 1986, can veto any legislation, appoints the prime minister and cabinet, and is constitutionally above the law.
The US embassy also raised concerns about the sentences handed to the former MPs, saying in a statement: “There has been widespread reporting that their detentions are arbitrary, based on groundless charges of murder and terrorism.”
The pair “were targeted for bravery calling for political and human rights reform in the country,” it said, urging the government not to use courts to “suppress dissenting views.”
In its reaction, the government said the US statement was an “affront” and the embassy should “respect the due process of the law.”
“Casting aspersions on the independence of our judiciary after delivery of judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction is an affront to the rule of law,” spokesman Alpheous Nxumalo said in a statement.
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