By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:”Eswatini is an absolute Monarchy and political parties are banned while human rights defenders are killed for demanding democracy”.

These were the sentiments of Swaziland News editor Zweli Martin Dlamini when interviewed by Željko Veljković, a senior journalist of the independent Serbian Nova Belgrade TV on Saturday afternoon.

The Serbian journalist interviewed the Swaziland News editor shortly after attending a press conference hosted by King Mswati and Aleksandar Vučić, the President of Serbia, the intention was to understand what “is happening in eSwatini” from an independent journalist.

“Can we consider Eswatini an absolute Monarchy?.What’s the situation with human rights and media freedom?.Was anyone held accountable for those who were killed during the protests?.What is your personal situation, are you still in exile?”, reads a questionnaire sent to the editor.

Responding to the Serbian TV, editor Zweli Martin Dlamini stated that, members of political parties and other human rights defenders are normally arrested, tortured or even killed for demanding democracy.

“We have just witnessed the killing of human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko in eSwatini. All those atrocities are an indication that eSwatini is an autocratic regime that does not tolerate dissenting views”, said the editor.

The editor further told the Serbian TV that, the June 2021 political unrest erupted after the then Acting Prime Minister Themba Masuku, who was acting on an instruction from King Mswati, banned the delivery of petitions seeking to demand democracy.

Dlamini further said he was forced into exile for writing critical articles against the regime.

After the interview, editor Zweli Martin Dlamini was told to also consider contacting Serbian journalists or organizations if he need support or anything in Serbia.

The international journalists expressed full support for the work of the Swaziland News in giving a true reflection of what “is happening in eSwatini”.