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Newsbrief:
Swaziland
Row
Over
Rasta
Royals
5/31/02
According to the BBC, aides
of Swaziland King Mswati have evicted six young men, including the king's
nephew, from the royal residence for wearing dreadlocks and allegedly smoking
marijuana. This is the second time the self-described Swazi Rastafarians
have been thrown out of the royal palace. Earlier this year, the
Elders of the Swazi Nation, as the king's aides are called, accused them
of smoking dagga (the local term for marijuana) and other "mischievious
acts," including inviting non-royals into the palace and practicing Rastafarianism,
the Jamaica-based religion that uses marijuana as a sacrament.
But Prince Bhamela, one of
the Swazi Six and nephew to King Mswati, told the BBC the real reason they
were being evicted was because they wanted to reveal to the king a certain
dream concerning his reign.
According to another member
of the group, Victor Zulu, the Rastas would refuse to leave the royal police
and were messengers of peace. "We have the secret to life and we
have been ordered not to give this information to anyone but the king,"
he told BBC. "We have not been told these words we are meant to have
said when praise-singing the king. We have a lot of information about
the nation, and we will persist in making our way to see the king.
There are a lot of things happening which are leading the country to disaster,
and we need to divulge these happenings before the king," Zulu explained.
-- END --
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Issue #239, 5/31/02
Editorial: Skating on the Edge of Propriety | New DRCNet/StopTheDrugWar.org Merchandise Out -- Discounted Purchase Available | DEA Forges Alliance With Women Legislators Group to Wage War on Club Drugs, Terror | DEA Raids Another California Medical Marijuana Dispensary Even as Advocates Gear Up for Day of Action Next Friday | FBI Ends Drug War Role to Concentrate on Terror War | Western Australia to Cite, Not Arrest, Marijuana Users Under State Government Plan | National Drug Intelligence Center Gives Partial Response to DRCNet FOIA Request on "Drug Menace" Web Sites | Report Charges Taft Administration Subverts Election in Ohio, Allies with PDFA and CADCA in Effort to Defeat Initiative | Newsbrief: Seven Up Pulls "Prison Rape" Commercial Under Threat of Boycott | Newsbrief: Feds Use RICO Against Virginia Oxycontin Doctor | Newsbrief: US 9th Circuit Rules Religious Marijuana Use on Federal Lands Okay | Newsbrief: Cannabis Cafe Vows to Open in England, Another in Scotland | Newsbrief: Tennessee Town Pays for Drug Raid Killing | Newsbrief: Oakland Rogue Cops Go on Trial | Newsbrief: Will Foster Arrested on Minor Parole Violation in California, May Face Return to Oklahoma Prison | Newsbrief: Swaziland Row Over Rasta Royals | Newsbrief: Marijuana Advocate Sues Over Hawaii Aerial Eradication Program | Newsbrief: Ed Thompson Does Weedstock, Says Legalize It | Newsbrief: British Magazine "The New Statesman" Calls for Drug Legalization | Newsbrief: Weird Scenes Inside the Pretoria Ford Plant | The Reformer's Calendar
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