Journalist summoned to court

(MISA/IFEX) – The editor of “MoAfrika” newspaper, Candi Ramainoane, has been called upon to appear, with his lawyer, before Advocate Justice Cullinan on charges of contempt of court regarding an article published in the 22 January 1999 issue of the newspaper. Justice Cullinan is presiding over the court-martial at which forty nine soldiers are facing […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The editor of “MoAfrika” newspaper, Candi Ramainoane, has been
called upon to appear, with his lawyer, before Advocate Justice Cullinan on
charges of contempt of court regarding an article published in the 22
January 1999 issue of the newspaper. Justice Cullinan is presiding over the
court-martial at which forty nine soldiers are facing possible death
sentences because of treason charges.

**Updates IFEX alert of 21 January 1999**
The judge did not state which particular article was considered
contemptuous. Ramainoane was not present at court at the time that he was
summoned to appear.

Ramainoane told the Media Institute of Lesotho (MILES) that he was very
concerned about the shape that the court-martial was taking. “It seems that
this is harassment directed towards the media, particularly towards
‘MoAfrika’ newspaper and its sister
radio MoAfrika FM,” he said.

“I was not in court when Justice Cullinan announced that I was to appear
before him on 28 January. I have not been informed that I have disrespected
the court in any way. Furthermore, I will not appear before court without
being given written summons, especially because I don’t even know what I am
being accused of that is so grave as to warrant the presence of my lawyer,”
Ramainoane said.

Ramainoane added that he viewed this incident as personal harassment. “This
court-martial is creating more problems than it purports to solve. This is
the second time that I have felt aggrieved as a result of my covering the
proceedings.”

Background Information

Ramainoane said that at about 9 a.m. (local time), the time when journalists
are permitted to enter the court martial, he approached the entrance and was
immediately halted by a Military Police (MP) officer. When he asked why he
was being denied entrance, he was told that “orders are that you are not to
be allowed in” and he was further ordered to stand to the side.

Ramainoane reports: “All hell broke loose when I began to interview people
as they stood outside the entrance [of the] prison grounds. One MP Liaison
Officer ordered me to move away and I refused. Then he threatened to beat me
up and I said I would still not move.”

After refusing to identify himself to Ramainoane and to say who had given
him orders that he should not be allowed into the court martial, the MP left
him alone. However, Lt. Tanki Mothae, public relations officer for the
Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), later confirmed to MILES that the order barring
Ramainoane from the court martial had been issued by him. He said Ramainoane
had broken rules regulating court martial proceedings by interviewing some
of the accused soldiers.

Ramainoane countered by saying that he had not been informed or warned that
he had broken such rules, instead he had been pushed and threatened with
assault by those at the entrance.

Mothae said that it would have been an “unlawful act for a member of the LDF
to physically abuse a civilian and it would have been clumsier still if that
civilian were a journalist.” He further said that Ramainoane would again be
allowed to report on the court proceeding if he “gave assurance that he
would refrain from interviewing the accused.”

Ramainoane told MILES that he felt he was being singled out because he
reported negatively about the LDF’s high command; the irregular manner in
which the court martial was being conducted; and the irregularity of the
case actually being tried in a prison ground. He also said that he had been
made privy to a plan to murder the arrested soldiers on Monday, 18 January,
and had subsequently broadcast this information on MoAfrika FM radio
station.