Times Of Swaziland: MARIO’S RELEASE COULD LEAD TO PUBLIC DISORDER - POLICE

MARIO’S RELEASE COULD LEAD TO PUBLIC DISORDER - POLICE
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BY MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE  on 30/04/2015 06:11:00


MBABANE – The Royal Swaziland Police (RSP) Service foresees a strong
likelihood of a disturbance of public order should PUDEMO President Mario Masuku
and his associates attend the funeral of his mother.
They said this was so because Masuku may need to be in shackles.
Masuku wants to be admitted to bail in order to prepare for his mother’s
funeral, which will be held tomorrow.
The Crown, which is represented by Senior Crown Counsel Thabo Dlamini, is
strongly opposing Masuku’s application.
The PUDEMO president and his co-accused Maxwell Dlamini, through their lawyer
Leo Gama, on Tuesday filed a bail application at the High Court, under a
certificate of urgency.
The two were arrested during last year’s May Day commemoration and were
charged with sedition after they allegedly uttered seditious statements.
In his opposing affidavit, Detective Assistant Superintendent Aaron Mthembu said
Masuku had a wife, children and siblings, who were all capable of taking care of
his parental homestead.
He said the court would be justified to revisit Masuku and Dlamini’s bail
application when the new circumstances alleged render the earlier reasons for
their denial of bail nugatory.
He said that was not the case in the present application.
Mthembu submitted that the two were denied bail on two occasions for the
following reasons:  that they were both a flight risk; that their release on
bail would likely endanger public order and security and that Dlamini had a
propensity to commit offences under the Suppression of Terrorism Act and the
Sedition and Subversive Activities Act.