Botswana rebuffs US criticism over arrest of editor

The government of Botswana has rejected criticism from the United States over the arrest of a newspaper editor in the southern African country.

In a statement released in Gaborone on Wednesday, the US State Department criticized the arrest of the editor working for Botswana’s Sunday Newspaper.

Outsa Mokone, editor of the Sunday Standard was arrested on Tuesday before being released and faces charges of sedition, according to a court ruling on Wednesday.

This comes after his paper carried a story alleging that the Botswana President Ian Khama was involved in a motor vehicle accident while driving by himself. The reporter who wrote the story has since fled to neighboring South Africa where he has been given temporary asylum. This prompted the US State Department to issue a press release criticizing Botswana over the issue.

The Botswana government meanwhile released a media release in response, saying they found it unfortunate that a foreign government should issue such a statement about an ongoing judicial process in their country.

“We find it unfortunate to say the least that a foreign Government, much less one that professes to be a friend and partner of Botswana, should issue such a statement about an ongoing judicial process in our country, without even having first approached the appropriate authorities for clarification on the matter,” read part of the press release.

“In this respect, we can confirm that at no point prior to the issuance of the said press statement did any representative of the U.S. Government approach our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as is the accepted diplomatic norm,” it said.

The release further says it would be inappropriate for Botswana to comment on the case in the context of sub-judice. “In this respect, the executive branch of the Government of Botswana remains mindful of its responsibility to uphold the rule of law, without fear or favor, in the context of the well known independence of our judiciary and law enforcement agencies. We can only hope that outsiders who profess to be informed will exercise similar restraint and not encourage lawlessness in Botswana,” it read.