(MISA/IFEX) – On 10 December 1997, the former editor of the defunct “Okavango Observer” newspaper, Caitlin Davies, and reporter Cobrie Kgaodi appeared before the magistrate court in Botswana to take a plea over an offending story published two years ago. **Updates IFEX alerts dated 9 December 1997 and 3 September 1996** Davies was verbally summoned […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 10 December 1997, the former editor of the
defunct “Okavango Observer” newspaper, Caitlin Davies, and
reporter Cobrie Kgaodi appeared before the magistrate court in
Botswana to take a plea over an offending story published two
years ago.
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 9 December 1997 and 3 September
1996**
Davies was verbally summoned by officers from the Criminal
Investigations Department (CID) to appear in court. Lawyer Carl
Anderson represented Davies. Also summoned was Kgaodi, who
authored the article. However, the two did not take a plea,
saying they had been summoned to appear before court on short
notice. The next court appearance for the two was set for 2
February 1998.
Background Information
Davies and Kgaodi are charged under Section 59 of the Alarming
Publications Act for allegedly alarming the public in an article
published in the 29 September 1995 edition of the “Okavango
Observer”. Entitled “Terror squad shocks Maun”, the paper
reported of notorious street gangsters identifying themselves as
“Ma Western” who were beating up and terrorising the public in
Maun, a town in northern Botswana (see IFEX alerts).
