British diplomat denied permission to see Mario

However, Norton was denied the permission to meet the PUDEMO president. Speaking to the Times SUNDAY, the British Deputy High Commissioner confirmed he was denied permission to meet Masuku.

"As a diplomat, my job is to inform myself of the facts and I wanted an account from PUDEMO; since PUDEMO has been prescribed, I cannot talk to them without breaking the Swazi laws. I, therefore, decided to talk to Mario Masuku to hear his side of the story," he said.

The British Deputy High Commissioner said: "I went to Matsapha Maximum Prison this morning (yesterday), I introduced myself as the British Deputy High Commissioner and I asked to see Mario Masuku.

"I was shown a notice which states that in the case of King versus Mario Masuku, the authorities would strictly enforce Section 16 (6) (b) of the 2005 Constitution, which suggests that only Mario’s next of kin, legal representatives and doctor have the right to see him."

The Section reads thus: "Where a person is arrested or detained—(a) the next of kin of that person shall, at the request of that person, be informed as soon as practicable of the arrest or detention and place of the arrest or detention (b) the next of kin, legal representative and personal doctor of that person shall be allowed reasonable access and confidentiality to that person; and that person shall be allowed reasonable access to medical treatment including, at the request and at the cost of that person, access to private medical treatment".

The British Diplomat said he was made to understand that any other person could see him at the discretion of the Chief Prison Officer.

He said he asked the Chief Prison Officer to exercise his discretion and allow him to see Masuku but he refused to do so.

"I need to establish the fact over Mario’s arrest in order to come to a view on whether the government is applying the new terrorist legislation reasonably. Since that legislation (prescription) was used against Mario within 24 hours of enactment and since I have been denied permission to talk to Mario, I have yet to form a view on whether the government acted reasonably or not."

He said he was not pleased with the manner he was being treated because he was doing his job as diplomat authorised to represent his country’s interests and further accepted to do so by the Kingdom of Swaziland.

Correctional Services Public Relations Officer Nomkhosi Maseko said in such sensitive matters that attracted global attention and lots of people in the country, the prison officers exercised caution, strictly selective in requests for seeing Masuku.

She said their intention was not to harass the diplomat but wanted to ensure Masuku received maximum protection. Maseko said they were duty-bound to safeguard Masuku because they were too many people who wanted to see him.

He said there were many reasons for denying one to see a suspect in prison.

"We follow laid down procedures. We cannot flout the guidelines to please certain groups or class of people.

"We cannot allow anybody to see someone who’s in prison and I am giving you an overview of the whole matter so that you can understand it," said the Public Relations Officer.

She apologised to the diplomat for the inconvenience caused, saying it was not the prison’s intention to deny him permission to see Masuku just because he is a diplomat. She said inmates needed total safety these days.

Masuku’s lawyer Thulani Maseko said this section was problematic.

He said the Correctional Services headquarters showed him the section but he wanted to take the matter up with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

In his capacity as Coordinator of the National Constitutional Assembly, Maseko said it was the diplomat’s constitutional right to meet Masuku. He said Norton should have been allowed in, especially because he is a respected diplomat.

He said there was no one to be affected just because people wanted to see Masuku.