August 14
Professor Malema, Botswana Guardian, LEGAL ACTION
Tshimologo Boitumelo, Botswana Guardian, LEGAL ACTION
Joel Sebonego, Botswana Guardian, LEGAL ACTION
Horace Somanje, Botswana Guardian, LEGAL ACTION
Botswana Guardian, LEGAL ACTION
The attorney general's office served Botswana Guardian editors Malema, Boitumelo, Sebonego, and Somanje with summonses to appear before the Gaborone Magistrate Court on Oct. 1. The four journalists were accused of publishing information on the identity of a person still under investigation by the Office of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) in the Botswana Guardian's July 28, 1995, and Aug. 4, 1995, issues. On Oct. 1, Malema appeared in court on charges of contravening Section 44 of the Corruption and Economic Crime Act of 1994, which prohibits disclosure of information relating to an ongoing investigation by the DCEC. On Nov. 1, Chief Magistrate Leonard Sechele repealed all of the state's charges against Malema for lack of evidence. The state eventually withdrew the charges against Boitumelo, Sebonego, and Somanje.