18 May 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The funeral of an anti-government activist who died in police custody has been postponed following the intervention of Swaziland’s security forces. Sipho Jele, who was found hanged in his jail cell on May 4, was a member of the proscribed People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), he was originally arrested for wearing a t-shirt with the group’s logo. Jele’s funeral vigil was broken up by police officers, who removed a PUDEMO flag from Jele’s coffin, ordered the removal of banners supporting the organisation, and destroyed photographs of the deceased, before surrounding the coffin and refusing to leave. Jele’s family was forced to postpone the burial.
4 Feb 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Peter Sawali was arrested in Blantyre on 3 February for putting up posters saying ‘Gay rights are human rights’. He was charged with ‘conduct likely to cause a breach of peace’ and could face up to three months in prison. A police spokesman Dave Chingwalu said “We cannot rule out international sponsors because of the quality and the quantity of the posters.”
4 Feb 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Henry Ochieng, editor of the Daily Monitor news magazine and Angelo Izama, a senior reporter were charged with criminal libel yesterday after a complaint from President Yoweri Museveni about an article that compared him to Ferdinand Marcos, former leader of the Philippines. The journalists have been released on bail, pending the trial on 25 February.
4 Feb 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Five people were arrested on 3 February after a group of men assaulted Victoire Ingabire; her assistant Joseph Ntawangundi was badly beaten in the attack in the capital, Kigali. Ingabire who intends to run for president returned to Rwanda in January after 16 years in the Netherlands. She has been criticised for highlighting the deaths of Hutus in the genocide and for claiming that the current government is dominated by a Tutsi elite. Gregory Mthembu Salter, a research associate at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said the attack may reflect a need for Rwanda to better uphold freedom of speech.
