MBABANE: “The dead do not feel any pain,but only families and all those who are deeply concerned about the political governance crisis in the country”.
These were human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko’s sentiments on Friday,during his last interview with this Swaziland News on the current affairs programme,the human rights defender was subsequently assassinated on Saturday evening.
Maseko, the Chairperson of the pro-democracy Multi-Stakeholder Forum(MSF) died while fighting for the late freedom fighter Mlandvo Khumalo to be buried with human dignity.
The highly regarded human rights lawyer was sharing a comment after the police stopped Khumalo’s funeral.
“We gathered from the Khumalo family that the police have stopped the funeral.It seems like the State does not want to see political activists being buried as heroes fighting for freedom and the hostility started after the funeral of Mmema.We don’t understand why the police are persecuting the family because Mlandvo is dead and no longer feels any pain, the pain now is with the family and those who are concerned with the governance crisis in the country,” said the human rights lawyer.
The ongoing killing of political activists comes after this Swaziland News published a series of investigative articles,exposing how Mswati was training a hit squad to burn properties belonging to political activists and further kill those calling for democracy.
Recently, this publication disclosed how the King allegedly strengthened his ‘Special Unit’ that kills political activists by hiring foreign mercenaries.
Even though Government later rushed to deny the availability of mercenaries in the country,Mswati did not deny the allegations, instead, he said he was surprised to hear those causing instability in the country crying that he had hired mercenaries.
Addressing his regiments at Engabezweni Palace on Saturday, a few hours before the killing of the human rights lawyer, Mswati warned those calling for democracy that more trouble was coming for them.
Dozens have been killed by Mswati’s soldiers, the police and mercenaries since political unrest started in June 2021, hundred have been injured.
The late human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko.