…as investigation into editor’s abduction stalls

Police investigating the abduction and torture of Newsday News Editor Kananelo Boloetse say they cannot make progress in the case because the journalist himself is unreachable to answer questions they say are critical to the investigation.

Chief of Police Advocate Borotho Matsoso told a press conference on Thursday that Boloetse’s phone rings and remains unanswered, and that police have been unable to reach him since he gave an initial statement describing his ordeal. Matsoso said that statement leaves key gaps that only Boloetse can fill.

“[To the journalists] ask your brother to come forward. We are prepared to protect Boloetse. MISA, you must ask Boloetse to show himself. We cannot resolve this case while he remains in hiding,” Matsoso said, adding that what the Boloetse had provided is insufficient for them to get to the bottom of the matter.

Newsday can confirm, however, that Boloetse has communicated with police on more than one occasion since his initial report, and has made it clear that he is willing to cooperate with the investigation.

Boloetse has told police that it is his life that remains in danger, and that he is prepared to answer whatever questions investigations may have. He has even offered police a practical alternative to a physical meeting: they can send him their questions, and he will either record his responses or provide written answers, whichever format investigators prefer.

Despite this offer, Newsday understands that police insisted on a physical meeting with Boloetse.

The Chief of Police also took aim at Newsday for what he described as its refusal to disclose where Boloetse is currently sheltering, suggesting the paper could be obstructing the investigation by keeping him hidden.

Police said they have also struggled to verify claims from Boloetse’s neighbours about a suspicious vehicle seen near his home before the abduction, telling reporters they were unable to locate the neighbours Newsday had spoken to.

On the question of who owns the silver Toyota Starlet, registration A 887 BBC, that residents say repeatedly drove past and parked opposite Boloetse’s house in Katlehong on the day of the attack, Matsoso said that inquiry is still ongoing.

Following his abduction, Boloetse reported the incident to police on Sunday, and officers visited his home to begin their investigation. Since then, however, police say the trail has gone cold without further input from him directly.

A case that has shaken the nation

The police’s account of a stalled investigation comes against the backdrop of an outpouring of condemnation from government, civil society and the media fraternity, all demanding swift justice for Boloetse, a well-known journalist and human rights activist.

Boloetse was snatched from his home in Katlehong, Maseru, at around 7 p.m. on Saturday, 5 September, by three unidentified men. According to accounts from Newsday and international press freedom groups, the men bound and gagged him, forced him into a vehicle, and interrogated him at length about his journalism and his human rights work before assaulting him.

He was later dumped, badly hurt, in the Thaba-Bosiu area, roughly 24 kilometres outside Maseru, with his attackers warning him that going public about the attack could cost him his life. After coming to, Boloetse managed to make his way to a nearby road, where a passing Sprinter driver found him and helped him reach safety.

Photographs published after the attack showed visible injuries across his back, which Boloetse said came from the beating he suffered. Neighbours told Newsday that the suspicious Toyota Starlet had been circling the street and parked opposite his home for hours before the abduction, feeding suspicion that he had been under surveillance.

Some residents have speculated about a possible link to a state security agency, though Newsday has stressed these claims remain unverified and has urged police to trace the vehicle’s ownership and movements.

Communications Minister leads government response

Among the most prominent responses came from Communications Minister Nthati Moorosi, who visited Newsday’s offices on Monday to condemn the attack in person and to reassure the newsroom of government support.

Moorosi pledged to use her influence to ensure that those responsible for Boloetse’s abduction and torture are brought to justice. She also praised his courage in speaking out about the attack despite his abductors’ warning that they would return to finish the job if he did.

Her visit was described as a source of reassurance for Boloetse’s colleagues, who have continued running the newsroom while he recovers away from public view.

Press freedom groups condemn ‘tactical terror’

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho, which Boloetse once chaired, issued some of the strongest language yet. Acting National Director Nicole Tau called the attack “an act of tactical terror, a calculated assault on press freedom, and a direct attempt to force self-censorship upon the media fraternity in Lesotho.”

Tau warned that the violence marked “a dangerous regression into a state of lawlessness” that threatens the country’s constitutional democracy, describing the attack as “entirely foreign to the spirit of Basotho diplomacy” and an attempt to replace legal accountability with intimidation.

She said normalising such attacks would send “a chilling warning shot across the entire journalism industry,” a message MISA Lesotho “refuses to accept.” She also commended Boloetse’s composure under what she called “extreme duress,” telling his attackers they had “fundamentally miscalculated.”

The International Press Institute (IPI) also condemned the abduction, calling on Lesotho’s authorities to carry out a swift and thorough investigation and to hold the perpetrators accountable.

In a letter to the Prime Minister Samuel Matekane, Amnesty International raised serious concern for Boloetse’s continued safety, noting that the men who attacked him appeared to know where he lived and had likely monitored his movements beforehand, leaving him at risk of being targeted again.

The letter urged authorities to guarantee an independent and impartial probe and to ensure journalists and rights defenders can work without fear of reprisal.

Civil society joins the call for accountability

Youth activist movement Bacha ShutDown described Boloetse as “our member, our colleague in the struggle,” warning that attacks on people for their voice, journalism or activism “cannot be normalized.” The group said it was troubled by the signal the attack sends to young Basotho involved in public life and offered its solidarity, declaring: “Today, Bacha ShutDown stands with you.”

Advocates for Supremacy of the Constitution – Section 2, the organisation Boloetse leads, pointed to the timing of the attack, noting its recent public-interest work, including a legal challenge against an electricity tariff increase, scrutiny of the Road Transport Board’s fare-setting powers, questions over the National Manpower Development Secretariat’s handling of scholarships, and pressure on the Ministry of Education over learners barred from class or exams due to unpaid fees.

While careful not to assign blame without evidence, Section 2 said it was “deeply concerning” that its leader had allegedly been targeted, and insisted the circumstances “raise serious questions that must be thoroughly investigated.”

The Men’s Equity and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Network (MESNET) was more direct, calling the attackers “a bunch of cowards” who are “afraid of accountability” and “afraid of responsibility.” The group said anyone who disagreed with Boloetse’s work should respond with evidence rather than violence.

Newsday: “This is bigger than Newsday”

Newsday Managing Director and Managing Editor Lerato Peggy Matheka said the attack appeared aimed at intimidating the wider newsroom, not just Boloetse personally. She pointed out that his phone and valuables were left untouched while his attackers focused only on questioning him about his journalism and rights work.

“This was not a robbery. The message was clear: he was being punished for his work,” she said.

Matheka said the fact that Boloetse was taken from his own home by people who appeared to know exactly where he lived means Newsday cannot guarantee his safety if he returns home. She said the organisation lacks the resources to provide secure housing or relocation and has appealed to international human rights and press freedom bodies for urgent protection assistance.

“He narrowly survived once; we cannot gamble with his life,” she said.

She linked the attack to a recent cyberattack that disrupted Newsday’s website and email following its investigative reporting, as well as to Section 2’s ongoing push for accountability over education financing, describing what she called a pattern of “escalating pressure against journalists and human rights defenders working on matters of public interest.”

Newsday has called on government to publicly condemn the attack and guarantee the safety of Boloetse, his family and its staff, and has urged civil society, legal bodies and media organisations around the world to unite behind demands for accountability. “If violence becomes the price of asking questions, then press freedom exists only on paper,” Matheka said.

A troubling pattern

Boloetse’s ordeal adds to a press freedom record in Lesotho that already draws close international scrutiny. Reporters Without Borders currently ranks Lesotho 89th out of 180 countries on its global press freedom index, citing frequent attacks on journalists and a media sector that lacks independence.

International watchdogs have stepped in before when Lesotho journalists have come under attack. When radio presenter Ralikonelo Joki was shot dead outside a Maseru radio station in 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists demanded a credible investigation, with Boloetse himself,  then MISA Lesotho’s chairperson, telling CPJ he believed the killing was tied to Joki’s reporting.

The International Federation of Journalists condemned that killing as “a senseless act.” Amnesty International has also intervened repeatedly in past Lesotho press-freedom cases, including the 2016 shooting of Lesotho Times editor Lloyd Mutungamiri and 2024 threats against Lesotho Tribune’s Phafane Nkotsi.

That history suggests Boloetse’s case, involving one of the region’s most recognisable press freedom advocates, is unlikely to fade from view.

For now, the pressure remains domestic but unusually unified, government, civil society, unions and Boloetse’s own newsroom all pushing for one outcome: for police to trace the suspicious vehicle, identify who ordered the attack, and ensure Lesotho does not add another unsolved case to a growing list of violence against its journalists.

• Police investigating the abduction and torture of Newsday News Editor Kananelo Boloetse say they cannot make progress in the case because the journalist himself is unreachable to answer questions they say are critical to the investigation.
• The Chief of Police also took aim at Newsday for what he described as its refusal to disclose where Boloetse is currently sheltering, suggesting the paper could be obstructing the investigation by keeping him hidden.
• On the question of who owns the silver Toyota Starlet, registration A 887 BBC, that residents say repeatedly drove past and parked opposite Boloetse’s house in Katlehong on the day of the attack, Matsoso said that inquiry is still ongoing.

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