Lesotho Times editor wrongfully arrested, admits anti-corruption agency

Lesotho Times editor Mohalenyane Phakela was arrested on 29 August and held overnight in a freezing police cell. Photo supplied.

• Lesotho Times editor Mohalenyane Phakela was arrested on 29 August and held overnight in a freezing police cell after the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) accused him of posing as one of its officers to obtain documents for a corruption story.
• The DCEO admitted on 8 September there was no evidence and dropped the case, but Phakela says officials never apologised for the “trauma, humiliation, and deprivation of liberty”.
• The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Media Institute of Southern Africa condemned the arrest.

Lesotho’s anti-corruption agency, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO), has admitted to wrongfully arresting the editor of the Lesotho Times and Sunday Express newspapers.

On 29 August, Mohalenyane Phakela was detained after the agency accused him of posing as one of its officers to obtain documents for a story on corruption.

The story implicated Lesotho Correctional Service Commissioner Mating Nkakala in the alleged theft of three plasma televisions donated by Maseru Toyota in 2022. The DCEO had been investigating the case.

Phakela was arrested late on a Friday. Near midnight, after seven hours of questioning at DCEO, Phakela was taken to Maseru Central Charge Office. His phones were confiscated, and he was held overnight.

Phakela recounted the ordeal to GroundUp: “They accused me of impersonating a DCEO officer when I sourced information from Maseru Toyota. I showed them proof that I used my Lesotho Times email address, but the lead investigator … insisted I needed to be taught a lesson. He said I was stealing confidential DCEO information and that he would lock me up, so I would learn the DCEO is not a playground.”

“I felt confused when they told me I was being locked up.”

Inside the dark, foul-smelling cell, he found two men already detained. Another joined around 2am. An hour later, Lesotho Times chief operating officer Mutaramu Muchemwa brought him a blanket.

“I had to choose whether to wear it or use it as a mattress on the cold cement floor,” Phakela said.

He only had a T-shirt and a light jacket. “I froze that night and lay awake until 5am, still trying to process what had happened.”

At 7am, detainees were allowed to use the toilet and have breakfast. He ate food Muchemwa had delivered to him.

“I didn’t want to see visitors. They made me too emotional,” said Phakela.

Around 3:40pm, DCEO officers arrived, asking if he had eaten, but he rejected their help. Ten minutes later, they released him.

Condemnation

News of his detention was swiftly condemned.

“The arrest and detention of investigative journalist Phakela mark more than an attack on one individual, it signals a chilling attempt to suffocate media freedom in Lesotho,” said Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho national director Lekhetho Ntsukunyane in a statement.

Angela Quintal, Africa Regional Director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), condemned the arrest and the confiscation of Phakela’s phones.

“Instead of intimidating and censoring the press, the government of Lesotho should commit to defending press freedom and concentrate its resources on investigating and prosecuting the real criminals,” said Quintal.

Once released, Phakela returned to DCEO offices to collect his belongings. His phones were withheld and only returned on Monday, when he reported back as instructed. He waited at the agency premises until nearly midday before officials told him to go home and await instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“I couldn’t work because I was expecting to be called to court any moment. I couldn’t even leave Maseru for fear they would say I had fled,” he said.

Days passed without any court summons. Then, on Friday last week, he said the DCEO spokesperson called, saying the director-general wanted to meet him on Monday.

On 8 September, Phakela sat across from DCEO head Brigadier Mantso Sello. “They told me they had no evidence I impersonated their employee and were not proceeding with the case … I felt so angry for the trauma I went through.”

No apology

On Wednesday, DCEO spokesperson Matlhokomelo Senoko issued a press release confirming the decision: “Further investigations revealed there was no material evidence that the suspect had impersonated himself to obtain the information under the pretence of being a DCEO employee”.

Although there had been “reasonable suspicion” of an offence, the case would not be pursued unless new evidence emerged.

Phakela is unimpressed by the statement. “I felt disrespected. They didn’t even apologise for the trauma, humiliation, and deprivation of my liberty,” he said.

He said Sello assured him that investigators had not tampered with his phones. But, says Phakela, “They had already downloaded my data during interrogation and questioned me about it. I have decided not to use those phones. I bought new ones which cost me M7,000.”

MISA Lesotho chairperson Kananelo Boloetse said the case highlighted a dangerous abuse of authority by the DCEO.

“We are deeply concerned with how the entire matter was handled,” he told GroundUp. “If the DCEO suspected Phakela of impersonation, they should have reported it to the police.

“Acting on its own accord without proper authority and arresting a journalist was wrong for all intents and purposes. There must be consequences for this misuse of power.”

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