Times Of Swaziland: THE NATION MAGAZINE BANNED  AT ZAKHELE REMAND CENTRE

THE NATION MAGAZINE BANNED  AT ZAKHELE REMAND CENTRE
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BY NOSIPHO SHONGWE on 14/07/2014 04:35:00


MANZINI – Members of proscribed entities, say warders at the Zakhele Remand
Centre refused to allow The Nation Magazine into their facility which they had
brought for their jailed members.
The incident occurred at the Zakhele Remand Centre on Friday morning when
certain members of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) visited incarcerated
President of PUDEMO Mario Masuku and SWAYOCO Secretary General Maxwell Dlamini.
The dejected visitors refused to be named as they feared the facility would ban
them from visiting the prison in future.
They alleged that the Correctional officers told them boldly that The Nation
Magazine was political and as such was not allowed into the facility.
The visitors said they had brought the two men copies of newspapers from both
publications in the country as well as the July 2014 copy of The Nation
Magazine.
They approached the entrance of the facility where they were made to fill in
their particulars and declare what they had brought for their imprisoned
friends.
The trouble began when they were called to go into the visitation room, and the
attending warder informed them that they would not be allowed to go through with
the magazine.
“We were shocked, all along we believed that there were certain freedoms in
this country and yet we were forced to turn back with the magazine we intended
to give to Masuku and Dlamini.
“When has The Nation become a political magazine?” they wondered.
His Majesty’s Correctional Services Public Relations Officer (PRO) Bongani
Khumalo confirmed the fact that the magazine was not allowed into the remand
centre.
Khumalo said that each prison facility had an officer in charge who decided what
material was allowed into the facility.
This, he said they could do as representatives of Commissioner General Mzuthini
Ntshangase.
Discretion
“The officer in charge at Zakhele used his discretion not to allow the
magazine into the facility as it would not only be read by the two men but by
all the other men they share a cell with,” he explained.
He denied allegations that the magazine was branded as political, stating that
as officers at the  Correctional  Services, they did not know what constitutes a
political reading material.
Khumalo noted that although the officers at the Zakhele Remand Centre had taken
this stance, it may be different in other facilities where the magazine is
allowed to be brought in by visitors.
President of PUDEMO Masuku and Secretary General of SWAYOCO Dlamini have been
kept in custody since their arrest after the May Day (Workers Day) celebrations
after allegedly uttering treasonous statements.
They are awaiting trial at Zakhele Remand Centre.