Amnesty names jailed Eswatini MPs prisoners of conscience
Amnesty International on Friday declared two pro-democracy lawmakers jailed in Eswatini as prisoners of conscience and called for their unconditional release.
Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were arrested in July 2021 during a wave of protests in Africa's last absolute monarchy that were violently quashed by police, leaving dozens dead.
They were sentenced last year to 25 and 18 years in jail, respectively.
The small African kingdom came into the limelight last week after it received five third-country migrants deported from the United States, who are detained in the same maximum security prison as the jailed MPs.
"The imprisonment of MPs simply for speaking out is a red line that must never be crossed," Amnesty said in a statement.
Their detention "shows Eswatini's deepening climate of repression and misuse of the justice system to punish those who dare criticise the government," it said, calling on authorities to "quash their convictions" and "unconditionally release them".
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland and landlocked by neighbours South Africa and Mozambique, has been led by King Mswati III since 1986.
The 57-year-old ruler has been criticised for his lavish lifestyle and has faced repeated accusations of human rights violations.
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