Murdered for wearing a t-shirt!

On May 1 Sipho Jele wore a People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) t-shirt to the workers' gathering in Manzini, Swaziland and he was arrested for doing so.

Two days later, police went to Sipho's home to notify his family that he had "committed suicide"!

In other words, wearing a t-shirt of a banned organisation means "suicide" in Swaziland; this tactic was commonly used by the apartheid government during the liberation struggle in South Africa.

The police then tried to rush the family to have a funeral so that an autopsy would not be performed but the family withstood the pressure. Next they were threatened that Sipho could not be buried in the country since he was a political activist!

A court order was sought and it was settled that the burial could go ahead but on Sunday May 16th between 400 - 500 police officers showed up at to the funeral and disrupted the proceedings.

One week later, the body or Sipho was eventually laid to rest.

We do not have a Swazi representative in Canada but should not remain silent.

Below is a link to the website of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) based in London - it has an email letter which is forwarded to the Swazi High Commissioner of the UK.

Thanks for adding your voice.

See
Email the Swaziland High Commission
or

http://www.actsa.org/page-1223-Swaziland.html

For more detailed information on this recent tragedy see:
Sipho Jele