DIS in P25m lawsuit over Interpol listing, arrest
Mpho Mokwape | Monday October 20, 2025 06:08
The legal action stems from what Mathibe, a Motswana national currently residing in South Africa, describes as an unlawful arrest, wrongful detention, and a false listing on Interpol’s red notice database.
He claims the action destroyed his reputation, crippled his business and forced him into self-imposed exile.
According to court documents filed at the Lobatse High Court, Mathibe alleges that around 2014, while he was in Sebele, Gaborone, he was approached and arrested by agents operating under the command of Director General of the DIS.
“I was detained without any warrant, reasonable suspicion, or court order. The arrest was conducted without any form of legal justification and violated my rights under the Constitution of Botswana,” he said.
Mathibe explained that during this arrest, his personal property, including critical business-related computer hardware, was seized by the agents and never returned, despite repeated requests to do so.
The equipment allegedly contained proprietary software and business data essential to his technology company’s operations and commercial success.
Mathibe said he was eventually released without charge, but the matter took a far more serious turn after his release.
He later discovered that the Botswana intelligence authorities had caused his name to be entered into the Interpol red notice database, flagging him internationally as a wanted person for the offence of ‘Conspiracy to Defraud.’
He asserts that the listing was done without proper investigation, due process, or any form of judicial finding.
To date, Mathibe claims that he has never been charged with any criminal offence, in Botswana or elsewhere, related to these allegations.
He added that the Interpol listing, still active more than a decade later, has had devastating consequences for his personal and professional life.
“The red notice, which appears publicly on websites such as mugshots.com, presents me as a fugitive. This is a false and defamatory designation that has prevented me from freely crossing borders, has exposed me to repeated scrutiny and threats of arrest at immigration checkpoints, and triggered suspicion and stigma in both professional and social environments,” he said.
Mathibe contends that the unlawful international branding has caused long-term reputational damage that continues to harm him to this day.
He points out that one of the most severe consequences of the Interpol listing was the loss of substantial business opportunities.
According to the affidavit and declaration filed with the court, Mathibe had established a technology company, Noroc Technologies SA Pty Ltd, based in South Africa.
He states that in 2017, the company was in advanced stages of securing funding from the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP), a South African government development agency.
However, during due diligence, GEP discovered the Interpol red notice and immediately froze the funding process.
In an email that forms part of the evidence submitted in court, the agency informed Mathibe that the application could not proceed unless he provided evidence disproving the Interpol listing’s validity.
“As no such opportunity had been afforded to me to contest or resolve the listing, the funding process collapsed,” he said.
Mathibe added the incident triggered a chain reaction that led to the financial collapse of his business as he defaulted on loans, lost partnerships, and was forced to abandon multiple projects.
He claims that his company suffered losses in excess of P100 million.
Beyond the business loss, Mathibe argues he endured extreme emotional and psychological distress, public humiliation, and permanent damage to his personal brand.
According to his court documents, he has lived in South Africa since shortly after his release, afraid to return to Botswana due to what he describes as a reasonable fear of continued persecution by state agents.
In his declaration, Mathibe outlines a series of rights violations allegedly committed by the state.
These include unlawful arrest and detention, unlawful deprivation of property, defamation of character, and violation of his rights to liberty, dignity, and freedom of movement.
He seeks compensation broken down as follows:
*P10m for violation of his liberty and freedom of movement
*P5m for unlawful arrest and detention
*P5m for reputational damage and loss of dignity
*P5m for loss of earning capacity and business opportunities.
In addition to the total claim of P25m, he is also seeking costs of suit and any further relief the court may consider appropriate.
His attorneys, J.J. Matomela Attorneys, argue in the court documents that the actions of the agents under DIS not only violated Mathibe’s constitutional rights but also breached international legal standards relating to due process and the presumption of innocence.
The Director General of DIS, Peter Magosi, and the Attorney General are cited in the lawsuit, and at the time of filing, the defendants had not yet filed their response papers.