Human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko’s murder is no surprise, says Freedom Under Law

The news that eSwatini human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko has been gunned down in cold blood comes as no surprise, Freedom Under Law (FUL) said on Sunday.

The eSwatini government said Maseko was brutally shot and killed by unknown criminals at his home in Mbabane on Saturday night.

“A ceaseless and fearless human rights lawyer, an outspoken critic of the regime in his beloved eSwatini, Thulani had all too long suffered at the hands of a heedless regime.

“But he lived by the motto: ‘My head is bloody, but unbowed ... I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul’.

“Sadly, and to the shame of those engaged in the administration of justice in his country, all too often he was a lone beacon of light,” FUL chair judge Johann Kriegler said.

He said no-one could be misled by the cynical message of condolence put out on behalf of the eSwatini government.

“His passing has not only left his family bereft of a loved one; his country has been left the poorer, its human rights conscience brutally stifled.”

FUL said in paying tribute to Maseko that it respectfully suggested it would be fitting if the Law Society of eSwatini were to mark his passing by observing January 21 every year as a day of mourning his death and rededication to the rule of law.

“To his widow and family we express our grateful condolences. They have paid a bitter price on behalf of all who try to serve the principles for which their dear one lived.”

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