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OPINION:Why assassinated human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko’s widow is being harassed by the police in the name of an investigation.

Wednesday, 3rd April, 2024

The recent harassment of Tanele Maseko,the widow to assassinated human rights lawyer Thulani Rudolf Maseko is not,in anyway, intended to arrest or prosecute her but,to create a shadow of doubt in the eyes of the public and the international community that, the human rights defender was killed by King Mswati’s mercenaries.

Some of us,with privileged intelligence information are fully aware that,the State is under pressure from international organizations to be seen investigating the murder of the human rights lawyer but at the same time, the pressure is to divert focus from Mswati who threatened political activists a few hours before the killing of the lawyer.

Therefore,those who feared that Tanele Maseko might be arrested for the killing of her husband Thulani Maseko are missing the point, maybe, but it’s hard for the regime to go that far.

The intention here is to cloud the public opinion and create confusion and/or a shadow of doubt so that the public opinion could be divided with others suspecting the widow in the murder and with this strategy,the regime hopes that,the widow will then stop accusing the King or Tinkhundla system when addressing the international community.

The State is not worried about having a suspect behind bars but,the regime is concerned about the narrative suggesting that,Thulani Rudolf Maseko was allegedly killed by Mswati’s mercenaries and/or the State.

Before the harassment of the widow, a recent State social media propaganda was activated to prepare the public opinion so that,it might appear as if Maseko was killed amid infighting within the pro-democracy movement.

Well,some of us are fully aware how Mswati’s son Prince Lindani activated the social media propaganda, working with others within the mass democratic movement and at the appropriate time,we will expose that.

I am mentioning Prince Lindani so that,those who are or were working with him within the pro-democracy movement in spreading propaganda trying to divert focus about the death of the human rights lawyer can know that,some of us are fully aware of this State propaganda machinery.

But I won’t get into details for now, this regime must know that,the killing of Thulani Rudolf Maseko is a matter of international interest and therefore, a credible investigation is fundamental not these theories and attempts to control narratives.

This investigation must be conducted by international credible investigators,the mere fact that a Head of State is suspected undermines the credibility of his police to conduct the investigation independently.

But as mentioned,the intention of harassing the widow is to control the narrative but the strategy didn’t work because it is clear how Thulani Maseko was killed and we won’t stop demanding justice.

We know the atitude of the State police if a member of the society has been killed without the involvement of those in power, the police would have long apprehended the suspects without being pressured by the international community.

It would have been an added advantage to them if a political activist was involved in the killing because the role of the police in eSwatini is to hunt human rights defenders not to fight crime.

The State must just leave widow Tanele Maseko alone and allow an international investigation into the death of lawyer Thulani Rudolf Maseko,this matter will not automatically fade away, justice must prevail.

In the meantime,international organizations must consider assisting the widow or the Maseko family to hire international skilled private investigators to conduct an independent investigation into the assassination of the lawyer.

This regime is cruel and can do anything to evade accountability in this matter.

OPINION:Why assassinated human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko’s widow is being harassed by the police in the name of an investigation.
The late Thulani Maseko’s widow Tanele Maseko.