By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: King Mswati’s order supersedes the Constitution in this tiny Kingdom of eSwatini, the rights of citizens supporting incarcerated pro-democracy Members of Parliament(MPs) Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were violated with impunity on Tuesday.

The MPs supporters were prevented by Mswati’s police officers who used force and went as far as shooting pro-democracy activists who were on their way to the High Court to support the MPs.

The MPs who are facing politically motivated terrorism charges had filed an application for discharge on the basis that the Crown failed to prove its case against them.

Police Spokesperson Phindile Vilakati had not responded at the time of compiling this report, a questionnaire was sent to her on Tuesday afternoon.

Reached for comments, eSwatini’s highly regarded human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi said the courts of law were public institutions and therefore any member of the public must be able to walk inside court at any given time.

“Even when the court is in session, any member of the public is free to just walk inside and follow the proceedings, unless the court room is full, that member of the public can sit outside. So,I don’t know what law the police are using to block people from attending the case,”he said.

The human rights lawyer said even if the court could be full, the State must create a space for the people outside court where they could wait for a briefing from the legal team.

A insider within the Police Headquarters told this Swaziland News that the order to disperse the supporters of the MPs came from King Mswati.

“It’s very sad that we are sometimes told to ignore the law and enforce an order from the King. Kuchamuka sekutsiwa basuseni labantfu lapha angibafuni”, said the insider.

A questionnaire was sent to Percy Simelane, the Director of Communication in the King’s Office, however, he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

MPs Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube who are critical of Mswati regime were arrested by the police as per an order allegedly issued by the King, they are facing politically motivated terrorism charges.