What do we say about our own Cde Amos Mbedzi? There is loud silence on this comrade and son of the soil who selflessly, with his comrades, literally took the plight of Swaziland in his own hands.
How many can do this? Mzukisi On 9/1/12, Lucky Lukhele <[email protected]> wrote: > *MBEDZI VERDICT A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE* > > > > SSN-STATEMENT: 1st August, 2012 > > Amos Mbedzi, the South African born political prisoner has been found > guilty > on all charges by king Mswati’s kangaroo court. After spending four full > years waiting for his trial to end, Mbedzi has been found guilty of: > > [1] Contravening Section 5 (1) as read with Section 5 (2) (a) (ii) of the > Sedition and Subversive Activities Act No. 46 of 1938 as amended, and, it > was alleged by the Crown that on the 20th September 2008 and at the Lozitha > overhead bridge on the Manzini/Mbabane highway, he unlawfully and with a > subversive intention, attempted to damage the Lozitha bridge by placing and > assembling explosive devices. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. > > > [2] Contravening Section 14 (2) (c) of the Immigration Act No. 17 of 1982 > and it was alleged by the Crown that on the 20th September 2008, the > accused not being a Swazi citizen, unlawfully entered and remained in > Swaziland without a valid passport or a valid entry permit. He pleaded > guilty to the charge. > > > [3] Murder and it was alleged by the Crown that on the 20th September 2008 > at Lozitha area in the Manzini region, he unlawfully and intentionally > killed Musa Dlamini. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. > > > [4] Murder and it was alleged that on the 20th September 2008 at Lozitha > area in the Manzini region, he unlawfully and intentionally killed Jack > Govender. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. > > > [5] Contravening Section 9 as read with Section 8 of the Explosives Act > No. 6 of 1961, and, it was alleged by the Crown that on the 20thSeptember > 2008 at Lozitha area in the Manzini region, he unlawfully possessed > explosives without a license or permit. He > pleaded not guilty to the charge. > > > > *POLITICAL TRIAL* > The Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN] rejects this flawed and > unprofessional judgment with all the contempt it deserves. Our reason for > rejecting it is that Mbedzi was never going to win a case that was so > politically charged, especially in a country where the king is the > judiciary itself, > appoints all judges and blatantly manipulates the judicial process. We > highlighted > this fact when the results of his pre-trial were first released, that > Mbedzi had in fact been already found guilty by Justice Maphalala prior to > the commencement of the actual trial. > > A neutral assessment of the judgment indicate that the court only has > irrefutable > proof of only one crime that Mbedzi was charged with and later found guilty > of, that he entered Swaziland illegally. He pleaded guilty on this count. > There is no evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he committed all > the other crimes he has been found guilty of and the most serious of them, > the two murder charges, are not only a travesty of the law but also violate > common sense. > > > *MURDER* > Justice Maphalala wishes to tell the world that after all his years of > practicing > the law, rising to the post supreme court judge, he has found reason to > believe that Amos Mbedzi came all the way from South Africa with his three > friends to Swaziland, spent a night with them on the day prior to the > incident and then was taken by them to a place he barely knew, and there > and then decided to murder them with explosives, hurting himself in the > process, all without a credible motive. > > Even if Mbedzi had a motive to kill his friends, a motive known only by him > and judge Maphalala, why did he choose to commit such a gruesome crime in > an area that was totally unknown to him and in the middle of a national > highway? The lack of merit in that judgment therefore not only destroys > Maphalala’s reputation as a judge, it further leads to questions about his > character and intelligence. > > > *MAPHALALA’S CREDENTIALS AS A SYCOPHANT* > King Mswati could not have found a better judge to do his dirty bidding for > him that Maphalala. To those who may not know about this man’s ties to > Royalty, it is worth mentioning that he was once trained in Kenya, as part > of a group known as the Kenya 6, as an intelligence operative to > destabilize the activities of progressive formations, including the ANC > itself. His credentials as a loyal servant of Mswati are well known as he > is also a king’s regiment, Libutfo. > > It was always clear that Mbedzi would never have a fair trial with this man > as a précising judge. However, even an unfair judgment ought to confirm to > the principles of the law and attempt to convince even the hardest skeptic > that it contains elements of fairness. Maphalala in his judgment did not > even try to do this. He judges Mbedzi guilty of murdering his own friends > in a foreign country without motive and founds him guilty of carrying > explosives without an ounce of evidence supporting this. We can only hope > that after this judgment his king will find reason to retire him, with a > reward for putting his loyalty before his profession. > > > *SOUTH AFRICAN AIDES* > Our network wishes to also condemn the actions of members of the South > African > Crime intelligence Services and Vodacom South Africa for aiding Swaziland’s > flawed justice system. Vodacom, a company that has been trying to do > business in South Africa for years saw it fit to aid this dictatorship by > revealing private communication between subscribers of its own network > without their permission. No law in South Africa compels them to provide > such information to foreign states, let alone an oppressive one, yet they > chose to do it, perhaps as a means to curry favour with Mswati to allow > them to become the second cellular phone network provider after Swazi MTN > or in exchange for financial returns. > > > *AMOS MBEDZI AN INTERNATIONALIST* > We maintain that Amos Mbedzi is being punished and denied a fair trial by > king Mswati simply because he chose to associate with members of entities > that are actively involved in bringing democracy to Swaziland. If Mswati > believed that Amos Mbedzi had murdered Musa “MJ” Dlamini and jack Govender, > he would have rewarded him handsomely and given him a royal pardon for > entering the country illegally. > > Ammos Mbedzi is an internationalist who bravely and selflessly supported > the struggle for democracy in all the organizations that he was a part of, > The Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN], uMkhonto Wesizwe Veterans > Association [MKVA], the South African Communist Party [SACP] and the > African National Congress [ANC]. > > We urge all progressives to support him in his trials against the > oppressive > Tinkhundla regime as it is no doubt that Mbedzi is being made a scape-goat > by the regime for supporting the Mass Democratic Movement[MDM]. It is > therefore the MDM itself which is symbolically being persecuted in Mbedzi’s > case and the king and his cronies are using the trial to present > progressive formations as murderous entities that have no loyalty even > amongst themselves, hence Mbedzi’s murdering his friends. > > We are also very critical of the manner in which the South Africa media has > chosen to ignore this landmark trial where their compatriot is being > victimized for his solidarity with Swazis. This is especially wrong because > if Mbedzi had committed a crime not related to politics, such as > drug-smuggling, his case would have made headlines in the country’s media. > We need South Africans to become sensitized to Mswati’s oppressive regime > and this case is an opportunity to do that. > > Since it is clear that it will be long before our comrade sees his family, > we urge all comrades to help support his family, especially his young > children to whom he was a bread-winner. Our network wishes to also announce > that it will be picketing outside > the Swazi High Commission in Pretoria on the 4th of September, the day > before > his sentencing. We also wish to announce that we will appeal this case and > wish to assemble the best legal team ever in order to shame the king Mswati > regime in its own kangaroo court. > > *Issued by the Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN]* > > *Contact:* > > *Lucky Lukhele-spokesperson * > > *072 502 4141*** > > > > > *Lucky Lukhele- SSN spokesperson* > *Tell:011 339 3621* > *Fax: 0866135762* > *Mobile: 072 502 4141* > *Email: [email protected] * > Skype: LuckyLukhele1 > website: www.ssnonline.net > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "SSN Media Releases" group. > Visit the group at http://groups-beta.google.com/group/ssn-media-releases > To unsubscribe, send email to > [email protected] -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. 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