Swazi cops fire tear gas at protesters

MANZINI – Police in Swaziland fired water cannons and tear gas, beat people with batons and arrested activists on the streets to prevent pro-democracy protests yesterday in sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarchy.

In recent weeks, an online campaign has tried to rally support for Tuesday’s protests, which come exactly 38 years after the current Swazi king’s father, King Sobhuza II, banned political parties and abandoned the country’s constitution.Simantele Mmema, spokesperson for the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, said on Tuesday that police fired water cannons and tear gas and beat people with their batons to disperse more than 1 000 workers who were singing and chanting in a teacher’s training centre. Mmema said teachers left the centre march to Manzini’s Freedom Square, where the march was scheduled to begin this morning.Yesterday, more than 150 Swazi police guarded the square where pro-democracy protesters had planned to demonstrate in the country’s economic hub, Manzini.Police spokesperson Wendy Hleta said the union leaders were being questioned over threats to overthrow the government they allegedly made to foreign media.Outside the square, uniformed and plainclothes police kept watch on the streets in southern Africa’s usually peaceful tiny mountain kingdom.Cosatu, South Africa’s biggest trade union federation, said police arrested seven labour leaders yesterday morning. With political parties banned, the labor movement has become a key platform for pro-democracy activists.Thuli Makama, director of the Swaziland Legal Assistance Centre, said police are blocking people and buses from travelling between towns.’They are in every corner of the country,’ she said.Activists said police were also barring students at the University of Swaziland from leaving the campus.Several reporters were detained and released yesterday and prevented from reporting on the protests. Police spokesperson Hleta said foreign journalists were prevented from working because they did not have accreditation.Activists said Swaziland’s pro-democracy protests were inspired by demonstrations in North Africa, where protesters in places like Egypt and Libya demanded their longtime leaders step down.An anti-monarchy movement has gained momentum since the government declared a budget crisis and proposed freezing civil service wages. But many Swazis revere the monarchy, even if they differ with the current king, portrayed by activists as autocratic and uncaring in a country suffering high rates of poverty and AIDS. – Nampa-AP

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