Advocate Fusi Sehapi says his sources have informed him that Kananelo Boloetse was abducted, assaulted and threatened with death by members of the Lesotho police, allegedly on the orders of the current government. Inspector Thabo Mohai, speaking for the Lesotho Mounted Police Service, says there were no such orders.
A
dvocate Fusi Sehapi, the lawyer acting for journalist and human rights defender Kananelo Boloetse, says sources have told him that the men who seized Boloetse on 5 September were members of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service. Sehapi says those sources also told him the Boloetse abduction was carried out on the orders of the current government.
Sehapi did not name the sources. He did not name individual officers. He did not produce documents. The claim is an allegation. It has not been tested in court. The Lesotho Tribune has not independently verified it.
The Tribune put the allegation to the LMPS and asked whether police had identified the owner of vehicle A887BBC, the registration Newsday and Boloetse flagged as suspicious before the attack. Inspector Thabo Mohai replied on behalf of the service.
The position of the LMPS is that there is no such orders directed to it. The LMPS is on the look for the culprits in this case and anyone with information regarding the perpetrators is welcomed to assist with such.
LMPS denies the Boloetse abduction order
Mohai said the owner of A887BBC has been identified. He said that person is not a person of interest “up to this far.” He did not name the owner. He did not say how the vehicle was used on 5 September.
The government has not issued its own statement on Sehapi’s account. Commissioner of Police Advocate Borotho Matsoso has not added to Mohai’s reply.
Lawyer links Boloetse abduction to police
Sehapi also acts for Section 2, the civic group formally known as Advocates for the Supremacy of the Constitution, which Boloetse co-founded. Section 2 has taken government decisions to court on tariffs, processions and the structure of public power. That work is on the public record. It is separate from the criminal case opened after the attack.
Boloetse is news editor at Newsday Media and a former chairperson of the Media Institute of Southern Africa Lesotho chapter. He has said the men who took him questioned him about his journalism and his work with Section 2. He has said they threatened to kill him if the attack was reported.
The Tribune first reported Boloetse’s own account of the night on 6 September. He said armed men took him from his home in Katlehong, Maseru, at about 7pm on Saturday 5 September. He said they restrained him, handcuffed him and sealed his mouth with duct tape. He said he was assaulted in a vehicle, then left at Thaba-Bosiu. He was treated in hospital and later discharged. He opened a case at the Maseru Central Charge Office under reference 05/09/26.
What the Boloetse abduction file already shows
Newsday Media reported that a silver Toyota Starlet moved along the street and stopped opposite the house in the hours before the seizure. MISA Lesotho later cited registration A887BBC and called for that vehicle to be traced. Neighbours’ names have not been published. No arrests have been announced.
Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders called for an independent investigation. MISA Lesotho asked the commissioner to investigate leads that include the possible involvement of state security personnel. The Ministry of Defence has previously denied any role by the Lesotho Defence Force. That denial does not address the police service.
On 7 September, Information Minister Nthati Moorosi visited the Newsday offices and said journalists should not be silenced. The visit did not name suspects.
On 10 September Matsoso told a press conference that the investigation could not proceed in Boloetse’s absence. He said no witnesses had come forward with information that could lead to arrests. He said parts of Boloetse’s statement needed explanation. He said Boloetse’s phone rang unanswered. He said Newsday had not disclosed where Boloetse was staying. Newsday has rejected the suggestion that it is obstructing the case.
Sehapi’s statement puts a named institution, the police, and a named principal, the current government, inside a case that the police themselves are investigating. Mohai’s reply is that the service received no such order and is still looking for the attackers. The owner of A887BBC, now identified, is not treated as a person of interest at this stage.
Boloetse’s whereabouts have not been made public since the week of the attack. The case number remains 05/09/26. No suspect has been charged.
Related: Journalist Kananelo Boloetse abducted and tortured near Thaba-Bosiu | Authorities must investigate reported abduction and assault of journalist Kananelo Boloetse | Boloetse still missing as police probe stalls | Police tell abducted editor to stop hiding
Restaurants
