Former DCEC investigator sues State for defamation
Sharon Mathala | Monday May 22, 2023 06:00
Bareetsi, a former staff officer at the DCEC, now seeks damages worth P1 million as he lays down his case in which he accuses the state of lying and harming his reputation as an investigator.
Last month Bareetsi and his wife, Pleasure Bareetsi lost a case in which they sued the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) and Botswana Police Service (BPS) for (Tsholofelo) Bareetsi’s unlawful arrest and detention in June last year.
In the papers filed before court this week, Bareetsi says the state made false and defamatory statements against him in public and through court records. Bareetsi has also indicated that the state through a Botswana Police Service officer, Jet Steven Mafuta, claimed that he (Bareetsi) was deliberately obstructing corruption and coup d'état investigations.
Bareetsi cited an excerpt from court files in which Mafuta said he withheld information that implicated former Director General (DG) of the DIS, Isaac Kgosi. Mafuta in filed court papers said: “During the course of the interviews, it was revealed that information on Seleka Springs was in the custody of Tymon Katlholo and Tsholofelo Bareetsi who is his staff officer, the same applies to information relating to investigations on firearms seized from Isaac Kgosi in 2019.”
According to the former DCEC investigator who is now a practising attorney, Mafuta’s statement in his affidavit was defamatory. “The said words, in the context of the answering affidavit, are wrongful and defamatory of the plaintiff (Bareetsi) in that they were intended and were understood by the readers of the said answering affidavit to mean that the plaintiff was a dishonest public officer who deliberately and without just cause stalls and obstructs investigations into corruption, economic crime, and a coup d’état.”
Bareetsi says he was alleged to have been part of the team investigating a case of possible abuse of office by Kgosi in respect of the acquisition, ownership, and registration of the firearms with the Central Arms Registry under the BPS; something, which he insists is false.
Bareetsi also denies the statements by Mafuta that the reason why he (Bareetsi) did attend interviews by the DIS was that he was instructed by Katlholo not to disclose any information relating to Seleka Springs and Kgosi investigations.
He further says to his knowledge, he or any other DCEC officer was never assigned by Katlholo to investigate the said cases. He says the statements by Mafuta were false and defamatory as they meant that he (Bareetsi) used his position as an investigator within the DCEC to protect the accused persons by concealing evidence that could incriminate them.
“The contents of the third defendant’s (Mafuta) answering affidavit are false and defamatory of the plaintiff in that it imputes and was intended by the third defendant to impute and was understood by persons who read it to impute that the plaintiff, although in a position to investigate crime and empowered by law to do so, has consistently over time, at least in respect of Seleka Springs (Pty) Ltd and Kgosi, refused, failed and or neglected to investigate these persons and was thereby guilty of unconscionable and unethical conduct unworthy of an officer of the court and public officer,” Bareetsi’s defamation suit in the first claim reads.
As a result, Bareetsi believes he suffered reputational damage and Mafuta’s statements lowered his integrity in the minds of reasonable people and, therefore, demands compensation worth P500,000.
In the second claim, demanding the same amount, Bareetsi says Mafuta made further untrue statements when he said Bareetsi participated in a manner that threatens the national security of the country as well as the security of the President.
Bareetsi states that the statement by Mafuta, which reads in part: “I must hasten to point out from the onset that the suspect was arrested in the company of a man who identified himself as Martin Dingake, the suspect’s lawyer. I explained to the said lawyer that the applicant was being taken to the DIS offices at Sebele for an interview relating to an investigation into national security. Furthermore, I explained that the applicant engaged in actions which threatened the national security of Botswana as they related to sensitive information on the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), the DIS, the Botswana Police Service and the President of the Republic.”
Bareetsi says Mafuta’s statement is wrongful and defamatory. “The contents of the third defendant’s answering affidavit is false and defamatory of the plaintiff in that it imputes and was intended by the third defendant to impute and was understood by persons who read it to impute that the plaintiff although a law enforcement officer has shown or proven that he is a danger to the stability and security of the country and was thereby guilty of unconscionable and unethical conduct unworthy of an officer of the court,” Bareetsi further pleads.
In the defamation suit, the Attorney General (AG) is the first defendant, the DIS is the second defendant and Mafuta is the third defendant. They are all sued jointly and severally.