Four men deported by US to Eswatini have right to see lawyer, Eswatini's supreme court rules

Source: The Guardian

Four men deported by US to Eswatini have right to see lawyer, court rules

The men, sent to the southern African country in July, have been denied in-person counsel for nine months

Rachel Savage in Johannesburg
Fri 10 Apr 2026 17.32 BST
Last modified on Fri 10 Apr 2026 17.48 BST

Four men deported by the US to Eswatini and denied in-person legal counsel for nine months while detained in a maximum security prison have the right to see a local lawyer, Eswatini’s supreme court ruled.

The men, from Cambodia, Cuba, Vietnam and Yemen, were sent to the small southern African country, formerly known as Swaziland, in July despite having no connection to the country, as part of Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to ramp up deportations.

The US government had labelled the men dangerous criminals. Their lawyers said they had already served sentences for crimes committed in the US. Eswatini’s correctional services refused to let a local lawyer see the men, although they allowed them to make calls to their US lawyers, the lawyers said.

The court rejected the government’s argument that “the inmates persistently showed no interest” in meeting the human rights lawyer Sibusiso Magnificent Nhlabatsi, in a judgment handed down on Thursday.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/10/trump-administration-deport-men-eswatini-court-rule