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State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
2002
ALERT
DATE: 2003-03-04
PERSON(S): Candi Ramainoane
VIOLATION(S): Victory
52 So This Is Democracy?
On 17 February 2003, High Court
Judge Semapo Peete ruled in favour
of the weekly Sesotho tabloid newspaper
“MoAfrika”. “MoAfrika” editor
Candi Ratabane Ramainoane was
summoned to court to explain why
he should not be ordered to remove
an announcement that appears in the
top right-hand corner of the front
page of every issue of his newspaper.
Judge Peete rejected the argument
that the announcement dealt with a
matter that was before the courts and
therefore could not be discussed publicly.
He added that although the
High Court was the bulwark of the
essential freedoms of Lesotho’s
newly acquired democracy, the press
did not have “carte blanche” to abuse
the rule against commenting on cases
before the courts without good cause
and a true sense of responsibility.
Peete ruled that the “MoAfrika” announcement
was protected by Section
14 of the Constitution, which
upholds freedom of expression and
press freedom.
In late 2002, Judge Peete ordered
Ramainoane to explain why he
should not be ordered to remove an
announcement in “MoAfrika” that
says, “Ntsu Mokhehle and P.B.
Mosisili,, who assassinated S.M.
Baholo [x] weeks ago, on April 14,
1994? The killers of Selometsi
Baholo have still not been arrested
nor prosecuted”. Twenty-five members
of the Lesotho Defence Force
(LDF) were arrested in 1999 in connection
with Baholo’s murder.
Ramainoane was summoned because
Judge Peete was concerned that the
“MoAfrika” announcement could
therefore be considered to be commenting
on a case that was before the
courts.
Judge Peete’s 17 February ruling
stressed that suspects are presumed
innocent until proven guilty. Peete
also ruled that the announcement,
which had been published long before
any arrests of suspects were
made, refers directly to the assassins
and not necessarily to the suspects
who are currently standing trial.
MISA’s Lesotho chapter (Miles)
hailed the ruling as a major victory
for press freedom in Lesotho. Miles
commended “MoAfrika” on its boldness
and further praised Judge Peete
for issuing an informed judgement,
in conformity with the concepts of
press freedom and freedom of expression.
Mokhehle was the predecessor of
current Prime Minister P.B. Mosisili.
Baholo, who was deputy prime minister
when he died, was assassinated
by rebellious elements within the
LDF.
“MoAfrika” was established in
1990. Soon after Baholo’s death, the
newspaper began featuring the announcement
in question, which lobbied
for justice in the former deputy
prime minister’s murder.