Itelligence agency sued

OARABILE MOSIKARE
Correspondent | Tuesday January 13, 2009 00:00

In their urgent application, to be heard by Acting Justice Terrence Rannowane on Wednesday, Jamal Ali and Abdille Mohammed Ali want the High Court to restrain DISS operatives from harassing them and frequenting their place of business.

The applicants will also seek to have the seizure of their passports, by a DISS agent whose name is known to this paper - second respondent - declared illegal and unlawful. Mmegi has in its possession the name of the said agent but is barred from publishing such names according to the Intelligence and Security Act.

The Attorney General, representing DISS, is cited as the first respondent. Jamal and Abdille want the court to order she and several second respondents to pay the costs of the application: jointly and/or severally for the one to pay in order for the other to be absolved accordingly on the scale as between attorney and own client scale. The court is also to make any order it deems fit to grant.

According to the applicants' attorney, Morgan Moseki of MCM Moseki Attorneys, on December 4, 2008 the second applicant, Abdille Mohammed Ali, a Kenyan national and a director of Binghi Enterprise, was arrested by men in plain clothes and taken into custody at the Francistown Police Station on allegations that he faked immigration documents. The plainclothes men identified themselves as officers of DISS.

On December 5, 2008 Moseki says he accompanied the first applicant, Jamal Ali - an Australian national who is also a director of Binghi Enterprise - to the offices of DISS to enquire about what happened to his colleague. But as soon as Moseki left, Jamal Ali was detained at Tonota Police Station.

'Allegations were that their work and residence permits were fake,' says Moseki. 'On December 8, 2008 they were remanded in custody at (the) Francistown state prison under an immigration warrant for being suspected prohibited immigrants in terms of the Immigration Act.

'On December 16, 2008 we filed an urgent application before Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi but my clients were released before the application was heard. On December 31, 2008 an intelligence officer visited (the) applicants' business premises on the orders of the second respondent demanding (the) applicants' passports. When questioned, the agent said they have identified a loophole in their documents.'

In his affidavit, Jamal Ali says he and his business partner are surprised that the agent could arrest them on the same allegations she had detained them and released them without charge. 'I and the second applicant consider the acts of the second respondent as an illegal act and harassment ... how could she take our passports without a court order?

'As non-citizens, we are required to (have) our passports with us at all times. Having confiscated the same, we do not know what could come next.' Jamal has submitted.
He says they are involved in the business of importing and selling motor vehicles from Japan, a job that requires constant travelling from Botswana to South Africa to collect vehicles for sale.

Jamal says apart from travelling regularly, they also transact with several institutions such as banks, which require identification.

'We are a group of business people selling the same items,' he continues. 'The presence of intelligence officers in the presence of customers and other businessmen is a source of embarrassment and drives customers away as they may consider us as crooks.'

The applicants say if their application is not heard urgently, they may suffer serious prejudice as business persons. At the time of going to press, the Attorney General had not filed any papers to indicate her intentions.