S in ce O ct ob e r 2010 Ma xwe ll Dla min i has bee n pre sident of the Swazi land National Union of Stu dents (SNUS) and a popular face in Swaziland. For the past years he has be en act ivel y invo lved in t he struggle against tuition fees, for better stu dy con dit ion s and the right to education. Furthermore he is part of the regional democracy movement. The Kingdom of Swaziland is consi dered an absolute monarchy. Inspired by the rec ent upr isi ngs in Nor th Africa, as well as the Middle East, thousands took to the streets within the capit al Mbaba ne for a jus t and democ ratic society and again st the predominant balance of power. The pr ot esters were at tacked by the special police forces hundreds were arr est ed. One day lat er, Max wel l wan ted to sup por t the democr acy move ment wi th a 3, 000 st udent strong demonstration. It did not come to that, however, as he was taken into custody on the flimsy pretext that he was allegedly in pos session of explosive materials during the p ro te st s on t he sa me da y. Maxwell denies that. For the local de mocracy movement as well as various activists around the world, who know him personally, it is undeniable that the selective criminalisation of Max well's activities is supposed to harm and intimida te the movement as a whole. In reaction to these circumstances a Free Maxwell campaign was initia ted . Fur the rmo re, act ivi sts on the newly creat ed Inter national Stude nt Mov eme nt Afr ica (ISMAfri ca) pl at form deci de d to call for the "Global Day of Action to Free Max well and All Political Prisoners" on Septe mber 5 th to support the demo cracy movement in Swaziland, espe cially the political prisoners: „We call on all progressive organisa tions , youth s and concerned people around the world to march to Swazi land embas sies/ consu lates on Sep tember 5 th 2011 in their region to add their voices to demand the immediate release of Maxwell Dlamini and all polit ical prisoners . Of cours e alter native forms of action are also wel come, if you have no embas sy or consulate of Swaziland near you.“ In total at least five political prisoners are currently held in custody by the Swazi government. They are kept im priso ned simply because they have been part of the struggle for demo cracy, human rights and social and econo mic progr ess. These activists and leaders have been routinely tortu red and denied access to family mem bers and friends. Their health is deter iorating each day and they are denied proper medical assistance. They are held on trumped up charges because the government considers their acti vism for democracy and freedom a danger to the rule of King Mswati III. This Global Day of Action calls for the unconditional release of all poli tical pri soners in Swa zil and and around the world, as well as for con c er te d ac ti on to pr eve nt mo re acti vi st s be ing de tained as the struggle for democracy and freedom continues. Please use [email protected] to announce your actions in advance and send in your reports with pictures and videos afterwards. This is important, so that your activities can also be included in press releases and people worldwide will get to hear about them. F or mo re b as ic de ta il s on t he Maxwell case: http://ismglobal.net/free_maxwell Videos to learn more about the situation in Swaziland: ismglobal.net/videos_swaziland For a complete call for the Globa l Day of Action see: http://ismglobal.net/ global_action_day_sept5 The Free Maxwell campaign: freemaxwelldlamini.wordpress.com Hashtag on twitter: #freeMaxwell Turning Global Solidarity into Reality! August 24 th : After a twoday debate parliament passed a new law which aims to chang e thing s on different levels. The changes target the power of studen t gro ups which have in fl ue nced universi ty poli ti cs for decad es, contr ollin g the elect ion of dir ectors , sta ff app ointme nts and even examination grades. Furth ermor e the unive rsity asylu m law was scraped. The bill paves the way for "independent" evaluations of univer sity academics and for restrictions on the length of time students have to compl ete theirdegrees. Criti cs say the ove rha ul put s und ue emp has is on bus ine ss ori ent ed degrees to the detri ment of acade mic disci pline s less in demand by employers. Man y stu den ts and lec turers are curre ntly on vacat ion, therefore in react ion "only" up to 2,000 people took to the streets of Athens on the same day. But that was just the first step. The struggle continues – everywhere. Sunday, 28 th August 2011 vol.02 issue.4 This newsletter is part of the com munication infrastructure of the in dependent platform "International Stude nt Movement" (ISM). The ISM is being used and shaped by educat ion act ivi sts and gro ups ar ou nd th e world wh o ar e strug gling again st the incre asing priva tisati on of publi c educa tion and for free emancipatory educa tion for all. This newsletter is the result of vol untary work done by a few indi viduals who are passionate about the cause. The positions expressed are not in any way representative for any group or the "International Student Movement" as a whole. For further details: website: www.ismglobal.net contact: [email protected] twitter: @ISM030 internat ional student mov ement About this newsletter Sept. 5 th : Global Day of Action to Free Maxwell and All Political Prisoners University Reform in Greece sparks Protest Rec la im Edu ca t ion Notes on the global struggle