German goes for the jugular
Mompati Tlhankane | Monday March 6, 2023 05:00
German was investigating DIS Director General (DG) Peter Magosi, Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP), Emma Peloetletse and Acting DCEC DG, Tshepho Pilane when he was arrested without a warrant on June 8, 2022.
He was arrested by the DIS officers he is also suing namely Steven Mafuta, Lefoko Nkwane, Goitseone Esely and Paul Setlhabi. As a result of the arrest and detention, German says he endured pain and suffering as well as injury to his reputation, and lost his liberty without just cause as a result of the unlawful conduct of the said officers.
The Four DIS officers are cited as actual actors who effected the unlawful arrest and detention of German.
He said his arrest and detention was beyond the agents’ limit of their power and scope of operation and/or duty. According to the suit filed before the High Court by German’s lawyers Dingake Law Partners, the four DIS officers acted jointly during German’s detention at Urban Police station, from June 8, 2022 until he was released on June 10, 2022.
In the court papers, German revealed that he was during his detention also hauled to the DIS offices in Sebele at the instance of the aforesaid intelligence officers and various other DIS officers, whose names and ranks are unknown to him.
He said the four DIS agents were acting within and during the course and scope of their employment as DIS officers. Who is German? German is an attorney duly admitted as such to practise before the High Court and other courts of Botswana. Until October 10 2022, German was deployed at the DCEC as a Senior Assistant Director, Legal Services Division but was transferred with immediate effect on October 10, 2022, by PSP Peloetletse to the office of the AG under the International and Commercial Division as Chief State Counsel. While at the DCEC, and immediately before his transfer, German was part of an investigating team which included then DG of the DCEC Tymon Katlholo and other officers of the DCEC. German's Arrest German has revealed that on June 8, 2022, at around 0600hrs when he was leaving his house intending to go to work, he was confronted by officers of the DIS, Mafuta, Nkwane, Esely and Setlhabi.
The four DIS officers are said to have asked German to accompany them to their Sebele offices to assist them with something which they did not disclose but stated that he would be informed about it at their office. German said he informed the DIS officers that he was taking his children to school thus he would not accompany them to their office and that if the DIS really wanted his assistance it should had gone through the DCEC.
“A certain Nkwane then informed German that he was under arrest and as such he was forced to go with them to DIS, Sebele. No reasons were advanced for the arrest. German was immediately escorted by armed DIS officers, first to drop his children at school, and then to Sebele DIS, offices,” reads the papers filed by German’s counsel.
Detention at Sebele and the reasons for arrest
Upon arrival at the DIS at Sebele, German was asked to leave his electronic gadgets being cellphones, tablet and external hard-drives with the DIS officers, to which he said he refused, indicating that he will only part with his gadgets once they had been officially sealed. German said he was placed in an office where he was escorted by armed guard at all times. He said he was even escorted when he needed to visit the bathrooms.
“German was escorted to the interview room at 2100 hours, on June 8, 2022, having spent the whole day at the DIS doing nothing, without any explanation why he was there. A certain Attorney Kgoadi then joined the officers in the interview room. Setlhabi then informed German that he was arrested for contravention of the National Security Act and further that the DIS had video recordings indicating that German, in the company of some senior officers of the Botswana Police Service, Botswana Defence Force, the DCEC and the DIS, planned to overthrow President Mokgweetsi Masisi. The video recordings were never produced notwithstanding that German requested its production. Furthermore, Setlhabi informed German that he was given information on the security detail of the President. After being ushered in the interview room, no interview was actually conducted save for the demand of German's official DCEC gadgets some of which contained sensitive investigations material relating to the above named cases and names of whistle-blowers. German made this known to the DIS officers whose response was that the gadgets were government property and that the Acting DG Pilane had allowed them access to same,” German’s lawyers Dingake Law Partners revealed.
German also disclosed that he was then detained overnight at Urban Police Station where he was collected in the morning of the following day, June 9, 2022. Again he said no interview was conducted until at around 2000 hours when he was asked on issues relating to investigations at the DCEC and how classifications of investigation matters were done. After the interview, German said he saw and greeted Pilane who was in an adjacent office opposite where he (German) was being interviewed. German said notwithstanding that Pilane is the investigator for all cases investigated by officers of the DCEC, and that DCEC investigators investigate in his stead, Pilane never bothered to ask the reason for his arrest.
German said Pilane’s presence invariably landed credence to Kgoadi's assertions that he (Pilane) authorised Kgoadi and her team access to the DCEC investigation files, including the names of whistle-blowers. German said he was also taken aback by the presence and involvement of his Acting DG in what he believed to be an unlawful arrest and a clear violation of the Corruption and Economic Crime Act. German recalled that he was thereafter taken back to Urban Police Station for detention and the following morning, on June 10, 2022, at around 07h00hrs, officers of the DIS went to Urban Police station to collect him and he refused to accompany them to DIS’ Sebele Offices.
German said he informed them that if at all their arrest was lawful its lawfulness would have lapsed with the lapse of the 48 hours permissible at law for arrest without warrant. He said the DIS officers then left and he called his wife to pick him up. He also noted that he reported to the DCEC Deputy Director General Priscilla Israel that he had been released from detention and she gave him permission to go home and rest. On Monday June 13, 2022, German said he was on sick leave until June 14, 2022. On June 15, 2022, German called Israel to let her know that notwithstanding the lapse of his sick leave he was still not feeling well thus he would not go to work and would subsequently apply for leave. Israel immediately granted Plaintiff two days leave and informed him to consider it “compassionate leave.”
German now wants relief in the sum of P150,000 for unlawful arrest, detention and loss of contumelia. He also wants P500,000 for unlawful search and seizure, and invasion of privacy. German also requests payment of P8, 699 being money for the unlawful seizure of a military green bag worth P800, Nokia phone worth P399, Samsung Galaxy phone worth P6,500 and a Samsung S7 tablet worth P1,000. He also says he wants 10% interest thereon from June 8, 2022 to the date of full and final payment.
Asked to confirm if indeed his office has received a writ of summons from German’s counsel, Attorney General Abraham Keetshabe said he could not confirm because he was not at the office at press time. He however, confirmed that they work with German at the office of the AG.