Kananelo Boloetse, a journalist and human rights defender, says armed men seized him from his Maseru home on Saturday evening, tortured him and abandoned him at Thaba-Bosiu. He was treated at hospital and has opened a police case.
Staff Reporter
Kananelo Boloetse was abducted from his residence in Maseru at about 7pm on Saturday 5 September, according to the account of the attack he gave to the Lesotho Tribune. He said the men who took him were armed.
Boloetse said the attackers restrained him, handcuffed him and sealed his mouth with duct tape. He was assaulted inside a vehicle as he was driven away from his home, he said, then taken to Thaba-Bosiu, where he was tortured further and left.
Kananelo Boloetse after his release from hospital. He says he was tortured during the abduction. Photo supplied
What Kananelo Boloetse told the Tribune
Boloetse was admitted to hospital and later released. He has opened a case at the Maseru Central Charge Office, recorded under case number 05/09/26.
The identity of the attackers and their motive have not been established. Boloetse said the questions put to him during the assault pointed to his human rights work as the reason he was targeted.
Case opened · Maseru Central Charge Office · reference 05/09/26
Marks across Boloetse’s back that he says were left by the beating. Photo supplied
A defender of the constitution and the press
Boloetse works with Section 2, the civic group formally known as the Advocates for the Supremacy of the Constitution. The organisation promotes constitutional democracy, defends freedom of expression and works to protect civic space in Lesotho.
He is a former chairperson of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho chapter. Over the past year Section 2 has taken several matters to court, among them challenges to government conduct and to the structure of the judiciary.
No arrests have been announced. The case remains under investigation.
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