The journey to notorious Sebele
Ryder Gabathuse | Monday July 31, 2023 06:00
With intelligence information filtering in, we knew it was only a matter of time before they pounced on us. They were hell-bent on hitting on us, to send a clear message to the industry and perhaps, cow us into submission.
There has been outrage at the DIS that we were unduly benefitting from the spy agency’s internal documents, which the agency considers a security threat, hence the crack on journalists. It was oblivious to the DIS that a crack on us was a crack on press freedom, which is a pillar of democracy.
What caught us by surprise though was a response we got from some of the DIS operatives who were cornered at the reception of the DPC by the team on the deadline day when they shouted in response: “I am the warrant myself!” This was a response to a question demanding the warrant of arrest for the targeted journo.
Momentarily, there was commotion at the reception as the on-duty Mmegi team demanded for the issuance of a formal warrant of arrest, which detailed the reasons for the arrest.
The explanation was: “We are not going to discuss anything here, but you will know what we want from you at our office at Sebele.” Typical of old school police officers that used to say: “O tla bua ko pele (Or you will talk at the office), they insisted.
This explanation worsened the situation, as visibly irritated media colleagues demanded for more and proper answers from the DIS agents who were accompanied by a team of police officers seconded to the spy outfit as part of investigators. The team was only hungry to execute its mission - to arrest the editor.
In defence of freedom of expression and freedom of the media, the DPC media practitioners felt that their colleagues arrested in line of duty, could not just go without them putting up a spirited fight. I found myself shouting to a team now sternly resisting the officers to whisk me away. But, it was too late. I simply obliged, as I knew they were coming for us.
At the main entrance of the company premises as I was escorted to a marked police sedan parked outside, my colleague and Mmegi senior reporter Innocent Selatlhwa was under heavy escort in a waiting minibus that carried quite a number of agents. The officers had earlier raided his house just when he knocked off from duty and arrested him in full view of his neighbours who were shocked as they watched the action as he was whisked away by over 10 officers. His fiancée, who witnessed the action, was traumatised by the experience, wondering what her man had done.
It became very clear that our meeting with the DIS agents had finally come. The waiting time was over after the arrest and 48 hours of detention of some politicians, including the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) spokesperson, Lawrence Ookeditse, a few weeks before. Fear of sleeping in a police cell engulfed me, as our journey to Sebele commenced in earnest. I have never heard of a clean police cell in Botswana. They are dirty, stinking and generally bad.
Whilst our journey to the notorious Sebele interrogation centre, often referred to as ‘Guantanamo Bay’ named after the US military prison within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, seemed so short because of the speed they were driving at with less motor traffic on the road.
The minibus carrying a good number of agents, some of who were armed to the teeth, ensured it maintained its speed up front whilst the sedan with blue lights maintained its position at the rear. We reached Sebele without an explanation of why we were taken there. The officers maintained: “Re tla araba ko pele (We will answer at Sebele).”
It must have been around 9pm when we finally arrived at the feared DIS Sebele premises, which have a reputation for torturing suspects and I looked forward to enduring their torture.
This is the same place where former legislator, Tshekedi Khama and wife Rea, and his twin brother Anthony were interrogated for alleged unlawful possession of weapons. It was immediately after their release that the trio crossed the border to neighbouring South Africa where they are in self-imposed exile. As for their senior brother and former president, Ian Khama, he crossed the border before he honoured the call to go to Sebele.
Although the DIS agents are human beings, it was tough trusting that the water, drinks and food they offered me were not somewhat ‘poisoned’. When food packages arrived from Steers, Nando’s and KFC food outlets, amongst others, I was offered to grab my choice, which in my view was difficult to do, as I literally feared for my life as intelligence officers elsewhere have poisoned their suspects. An attempt was made that I join some agents to a food outlet (drive-through) and they would pay, still, it was so difficult to agree to their offerings. My position was that the government should at least make a saving that night, rather than me eating whilst gripped by fear.
What was interesting was the line of questioning the agents chose to adopt. I choose not to go into finer details of the questioning, as it could not help them achieve anything. But, from the office to Sebele, the agents could have done better in terms of explaining the rights of their suspects and what they were going to do. They, however, seemed very excited that the information they had against me was enough to take me to the cleaners.
Around a huge oval boardroom table, about 10 and sometimes more officers, took turns bombarding me with questions that they were convinced would pin me to the offence they were pursuing. The agents wanted to know my source at the DIS and at various institutions, something that I wasn’t going to share with them.
The same technique was applied to my colleague, senior reporter, Selatlhwa, who at some stage was brought face-to-face with me in an endeavour to establish contradictions between us. It was tough, but we were determined to adhere to the principle of protecting our sources.
News sources are a crucial component of the craft and cannot be easily shared with third parties no matter the pressure. So, I made my point clear at the outset that I was prepared to die for my sources. Even with the threat of incarceration as there were plans to remand me at a prison facility so that I can be pushed by pressure to reveal my sources.
At some stage, I was questioned if I had sources at the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), the Botswana Police Service, the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS), the DIS and others. My answer was obvious and was in the affirmative, but revealing who those sources are, was an impossible mission.
At the top of their concerns was my source at the DIS who they believed had leaked a document that they claimed was classified information. It was also surprising that the DIS investigators were looking for a document that has nothing to do with them. They were in fact, trying to authenticate a document that has nothing to do with them from the face of it.
We were not tortured but endured over five hours of questioning at the infamous DIS facility in Sebele, which culminated with the confiscation of our tools of trade; mobile phones, a laptop and an iPad. A settlement would, however, be entered upon which does not jeopardise our sources.
From Sebele, there were many lessons learnt from both sides. One particular lesson that we gave, as a take away albeit during a heated moment, was the role of the media in a democratic society. That Botswana has for the longest time in the region, performed with aplomb when it comes to freedom of expression and freedom of the media.
But, with newsroom invasions and confiscation of equipment such as cameras, mobile phones, computers and others, Botswana might find herself bundled with some undemocratic states in the region and outside. After the raid of our office, the government of President Mokgweetsi Masisi was warned by our partners about the “detrimental impact these actions could have on Botswana’s standing as the global press freedom index”.
As Botswana goes to the polls next year, we are only hopeful that the government through its security organs will not instil fear in media practitioners, but allow the media to play its role without fear or favour.