Africa Contact volunteer harassed by Swazi police

Af Peter Kenworthy, Kommunikations- og Projektmedarbejder

Africa Contact volunteer Morten Koefoed, who is in Swaziland to monitor and document the situation in Swaziland and liaise with Africa Contact’s partners in the country, was yesterday detained and questioned by Swazi police for four whole hours. During the questioning, which was conducted by several officers, he was accused of all manner of things, such as being a terrorist. Morten had been on his way to attending a meeting with members of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign, commemorating the anniversary of the ban of political parties in Swaziland on April 12. He had not broken any law or misbehaved in any way, and was consequently released by the police without charge, proving that it was simply an act of intimidation on behalf of the Swazi police. The police confiscated his laptop, however, and an attorney is currently in the process of trying to retrieve it. Morten Koefoed was composed when Africa Contact spoke to him yesterday, albeit naturally shocked by the incident.
Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident as police intimidation is widespread in Swaziland. Africa Contact staff and volunteers have been followed, questioned, and harassed by police on several other occasions, and Africa Contacts partners in Swaziland, the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice and the Swaziland United Democratic Front, are regularly harassed, manhandled and on occasion even imprisoned or worse, simply for peacefully advocating and campaigning for the democratisation of Swaziland.
Africa Contact strongly disapproves of the continuing harassment of its members, staff and partners, and strongly urges the Swazi authorities and police to abstain from any further such intimidation.

Afrika Kontakt-frivillig chikaneret af politiet i Swaziland
Frivillig i Afrika Kontakt, Morten Koefoed, som er i Swaziland for at dokumentere situationen og styrke kontakten til landets demokratibevægelse, blev i går tilbageholdt og forhørt i fire timer. Han blev under forhøret, som blev foretaget af tre betjente,  blandt andet beskyldt for at være terrorist. Morten havde være på vej hen for at deltage i et møde med Swaziland Democracy Campaign der skulle markere årsdagen for ulovliggørelsen af politiske partier i Swaziland den 12. april. Han havde intet ulovligt gjort, og blev derfor løsladt uden nogen form for sigtelse, hvilket beviser at politiet blot forsøgte at intimidere ham. Politiet konfiskerede dog hans bærbare computer, som en advokat på nuværende tidspunkt forsøger at få tilbage. Morten Koefoed virkede relativt rolig da Afrika Kontakt talte med ham i går aftes, selvom han selvfølgeligt var chokeret over hændelsen.
Dette er desværre ikke et isoleret tilfælde, og denne slags hændelser er desværre almindelige i Swaziland. Afrika Kontakt’s frivillige og medarbejdere er gentagende gange blevet tilbageholdt eller på anden måde intimideret af politiet, og Afrika Kontakt’s partnere i Swaziland, Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice og Swaziland United Democratic Front, bliver ofte chikaneret eller i nogle tilfælde fængslet eller det der er værre, udelukkende fordi de er fortalere for et demokratisk Swaziland.
Afrika Kontakt tager stærkt afstand fra den tilbagevendende chikane af foreningens medlemmer, medarbejdere og partnere, og beder Swazilands politi om af afholde sig fra enhver form for chikane i fremtiden.