MBABANE, Eswatini (AP) — A judge failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing in Eswatini on Thursday over the continued detention of four men deported by the United States to the southern African kingdom.

The case was brought by several non-profit organizations that have challenged the legality of holding the men from Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen without charges. The four were deported to Eswatini in mid-July under the Trump administration’s third-country deportation program.

The four men have been denied access to legal counsel while being held at the country’s top maximum-security prison for more than two months, their U.S.-based lawyers have said.

No reason was given for Judge Titus Mlangeni’s absence.

Zakhithi Sibandze, national coordinator for the Swaziland Rural Women’s Ass

See Full Page