What the editors said
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday September 12, 2014 16:29
Abraham Motsokono, The Midweek Sun: We shall not submit to any intimidation. Assuming Edgar had indeed written a factually incorrect story, why should government raid the Sunday Standard newsroom? The whole thing is being used as pretext for something else. It’s a wake up call to the media to stand up for freedom of expression. And we shall not submit to intimidation tactics.
Tshireletso Motlogelwa, Press Council Chairperson: I will speak in my capacity as Press Council chairperson. We met with the board yesterday to discuss Mokone’s arrest. We have realised that there is an attack meant to intimidate the media. This is a serious matter. It was meant to send a message to editors and their sources. It was to say; “Look we can use our resources to get you.” As media, we play a major role towards the development of our country. We inform the public on things that happen around them so that they could be able to decide who leads them.
The Sedition law shows how backwards our country is. These laws serve as an impediment to our work. We have to put these laws on test. Sedition law accords the president the right to do as he pleases. He can trash the printing press. It is unconstitutional and belongs to a previous era.
Joel Konopo, The Guardian: As an editor, I perceive the charge as an act of intimidation. We are likely to witness more incidents of intolerance before and after elections.
As the media, we have our own mistakes but we also ensure that we correct them. Our role is to keep Batswana informed. Regime ya ga Khama does not want to work with the media. He has never held a press conference with us and is the only president who does that in the world. Since President Ian Khama led this country, he has never wanted to work with us. It is very frustrating. The Sedition law has always been there. It is not a law at all. It is bad for media promotion, as it limits freedom of expression and democracy.
MISA Botswana Director Buyani Zongwani: We were disappointed by the arrest of Mokone on sedition charges as we feel that the government is impatient with the media. The arrest culminated with Mokone being detained in a prison cell for a day. He does not belong in a prison cell but the newsroom. This is violation of individual freedoms.
The government is trying to instill fear within the media. Edgar Tsimane has fled the country, seeking asylum in South Africa because he was intimidated. Instead of drag Mokone to court the government could have taken appropriate measures and consulted the press council or us, on the matter.
MISA Regional Governing Chairperson, Modise Maphanyane: MISA was shocked and surprised to learn of the arrest and detention of Sunday Standard Editor, Outsa Mokone, by members of Botswana Police Service on Monday, 8th September 2014 on the intended charges of sedition. We are gravely concerned that another journalist of the Sunday Standard, Edgar Tsimane, has had to flee his country of birth, Botswana, to seek asylum in neighbouring South Africa for fear of his safety as a result of the actions of the State. It is worth noting that it is probably the first time that Botswana’s sedition laws are used against journalists.
MISA Botswana has in the past classified sedition and other laws, which criminalise journalists’ work as impediments to the operation of a free media in a democracy.