Judge fails to appear for court hearing in Eswatini over 4 men deported by the US

Also: Rights advocates accuse Eswatini of stalling case weighing US deportations (Al Jazeera)

________________________________________________

Source: Associated Press

Judge fails to appear for court hearing in Eswatini over 4 men deported by the US

Updated 10:03 AM EDT, September 25, 2025

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 weas given for Judge Titus Mlangeni’s absence.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/deported-immigration-eswatini-us-trump-353cccfae90c840dd86e5410fbcc01e1

________________________________________________

Source: Al Jazeera

Rights advocates accuse Eswatini of stalling case weighing US deportations

A scheduled hearing about the four men deported from the US has been delayed after the presiding judge did not appear.

By News Agencies
Published On 25 Sep 2025
25 Sep 2025

A judge in Eswatini has failed to appear for a court hearing about the continued detention of four men deported there by the United States.

The case, scheduled for Thursday, was brought by several non-profit organisations that have challenged the legality of holding the men from Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen without charges.

The four were sent to Eswatini in mid-July as part of President Donald Trump’s push for the mass deportation of migrants and asylum seekers from the US.

Trump has controversially used so-called third countries to accept non-citizen deportees whose home countries are elsewhere.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/25/rights-advocates-accuse-eswatini-of-stalling-case-weighing-us-deportees