"Ha o ka tsaya senepe o tlaa diragalelwa ke dilo tse di hakgamatsang. Hela ha o tswa ha," the officer said and attempted to take the camera from the grip of the photographer. The photographer moved his equipment away, blocking his assailant with his body.

The officer looks around and tells the Mmegi team: "We don't care whether you come from the newspaper. We don't want you to take pictures of this scene".

A few minutes later, the director of DIS, Isaac Kgosi arrives. He speaks to his officers before a police helicopter starts hovering above. Police officers arrive and the suspects are handcuffed and led away.

The incident once again outlines the troubled relationship between the intelligence organ and the media, specifically the private press. A few months ago, Kgosi called editors to discuss the best way the new organ could work together with the media while serving its mandate. The director of the Botswana chapter of Media Institute of Southern African (MISA), Thapelo Ndlovu says the threat to the photojournalist was unwarranted and is an attack on media freedom. "When as a journalist you get to a scene and you find what is happening there to be of national interest, you have to report it. You cover it and the investigators should concentrate on investigations," he says.

Ndlovu says that sometimes journalists may be barred from reporting stories whose coverage may pose a threat to national security. "Say you take a photo which could compromise the security of the country. You might want to review your decision to publish it. But it is up to the journalist to decide that, as a professional not for security officers to decide for the reporter," he argues. Meanwhile Kgosi declined to comment on the issue.