POLICE OPPOSE RELEASE OF POSTMORTEM

MBABANE - The Royal Eswatini Police Service is opposing an application for the release of a postmortem report of once most wanted man, Sanele Muntu Soko.

Soko died on November 9, 2019 after being shot by the police at Ngwenya.
The father to the deceased, Nicholas Makola Soko, has moved an application seeking an order compelling the national commissioner of police to forthwith furnish him or his lawyers with a copy of the postmortem report.

His application is, however, being met with resistance from the national commissioner of police and the attorney general.
In his application, Nicholas stated that he was the biological father of Muntu, who was shot and killed by the police on November 9, 2019.

He informed the court that when the law enforcers shot and killed his son, they were acting in the scope and course of their employment. Nicholas narrated that upon the death of his son, with other family members, they were called to the Mbabane Government Hospital where a postmortem was conducted on Muntu’s body.

“What I noticed was that my son had several gunshot wounds at the back and front of his body, including one on his forehead,” alleged the father.
Killed
He said this made him suspect that the police intentionally killed his son.
According to Nicholas, the gunshot wounds in the front part of Muntu’s body were not consistent with the information his family received from police officers.
The police, according to Nicholas, had informed them that Muntu was shot in the back while running away from them. 

He alleged that sometime in November 2019, he formally lodged a complaint against the police regarding the death of his son.
“Unfortunately and regrettably, the complaint can only be made and was made to the very same national commissioner of police or his officials  and not an independent body, which could efficiently investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of my son,” contended Nicholas.  
He told the court that he had been advised and verily believed that this was an untenable situation regarding accountability by the national commissioner of police.

“Sadly and surprisingly, I have not been updated on the progress of the investigations by the national commissioner of police.
“This also is of concern to me and raises a suspicion that the national commissioner and his officers have something to hide or are not taking the matter seriously,” submitted Nicholas.

The applicant said he then engaged the services of his lawyer, Sabelo Bhembe, who wrote to the national commissioner of police and asked about the progress of the investigations.  
He averred that his lawyer further asked for a copy of the postmortem report, so that he could determine on his own how his son met his death at the hands of the police.

Meeting

Nicholas said after his lawyer had written to the national commissioner of police, they were called to a meeting at the Mbabane Police Station.
“In that meeting, we were asked if there is anything we have gathered about the death of my son.
“I told the police officers present in that meeting that I was waiting to hear from them about the outcome of the investigations as promised,” said the applicant.
The matter is still pending in court.

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