Maun officer charged with manslaughter

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Tuesday November 30, 2010 00:00

Sephiri was allegedly shot by Tshepiso Sebetlela as the police looked for two people who had attempted to rob someone of a cellphone. The charge against the police officer follows an inquest this year in Maun into Sephiri's death. The coroner was Maun magistrate, Clifford Foroma, who ruled that the officer who killed Sephiri was negligent.

Maun-based state counsel, Pascal Mhandu, has confirmed that an officer has been charged with manslaughter and that they are waiting for the Francistown High Court to set a trial date. 

The officer recently appeared before the Maun Magistrate Court.

During the inquest, police officers, who testified, insisted that their colleague flouted basic guidelines for shooting at suspects. 

They said he could have used the less lethal procedure than the 'shoot to kill' approach that he adopted. It also emerged that the officer was not ordered to fire the fatal shot.

A sub-inspector who was part of the patrol team that evening said he had only ordered the officer to fire a warning shot in the air in order to stop Sephiri from fleeing. 

The sub-inspector said they came across a man who told them that that he had been attacked by two people, one of whom had tried to rob him of a cellphone.

However, when the man was called by the police to identify Sephiri at the mortuary, he said he was not one of the people who attacked him. The sub-inspector said they met Sephiri when they were looking for the suspects, but Sephiri had not stopped when told to do so.

However, there was no need to shoot Sephiri, the sub-inspector said.

Another officer said he did not remember any warning shot being fired but spoke only about the bullet that killed Sephiri.

'The suspect jumped into (a) yard,' said the officer. 'Then I and the shooter came out of the combi and followed him into the yard.

'I was following my colleague who was armed with an AK47. We had the suspect in sight but out of focus. I heard a gunshot and the victim screamed as he fell down.'

The officer said the purpose of chasing the suspect was to stop and question him, not to kill him.  A senior police officer who also testified at the inquest, Kesetsenao Tshweneetsil, said police officers do not have an authority to kill. Rather, they may immobilise suspects in order to arrest them.

Tshweneetsile, who was subsequently assigned to investigate the shooting incident, said the police can shoot to kill only if their lives are in danger.

He told the inquest that there was negligence and recklessness on the part of the officer who shot Sephiri. He also questioned the competency of the officer who allegedly shot Sephiri in using firearms. 

He said the officer failed to secure the gun by returning its safety catch to the safe mode as per procedure after firing the warning shot.

Tshweneetsile said it was difficult to say whether or not the shot was intentional on the basis of the officer's story. The officer in question claimed he had fired the gun accidentally. Sephiri was allegedly shot. The Botswana Police Service gave Sephiri's family only P5 000 towards funeral expenses.