be set aside if the station does not commit a similar offence during that time. The station was accused of defaming the commissioner of police and the principal secretary in the Ministry of Communications. The two filed complaints with LCA, claiming Harvest FM had broadcast opinions that were intended to damage their dignity as individuals. MISA Lesotho intervened in the closure of the station, arguing for the ban to be lifted. The LCA, however, contended that the matter was already in the hands of the courts as Harvest FM had lodged a case demanding annulment of the suspension. Noting that the legal case could have delayed the reopening of the station even further, MISA Lesotho advised the station to withdraw the case and accept the three-month suspension, which ended on October 21, 2008. Harvest FM began broadcasting again on October 22, 2008. • ALERT Date: July 21, 2008 Institution: Lesotho Telecommunications Authority (LCA) Violation/issue: Legislation (regulation) The board composition of the LCA has come under the spotlight with allegations of conflicts of interest as the former acting minister and the current secretary general of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy, Mpho Malie, who was an overseer in the recruitment process of the board, now sits on the same board. The wife of the principal secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Communications, Teboho ’Mokela, is also a board member. The PS was highly involved in the recruitment of the LCA board members. Other members of the board include the ruling party’s legal representative and a relation of ’Mokela, Salemane Phafane; the brother of the principal secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Paseka Khetsi; and the sister of the deputy prime minister, Refiloe Lehohla. MISA Lesotho has raised concern that this board is not representative of the diverse interest groups in Lesotho but selected along partisan lines. Thus, the LCA does not reflect the diversity of Lesotho and cannot, in its present form, manage the affairs of broadcasting and telecommunications fairly, said MISA Lesotho. • ALERT Date: July 28, 2008 Person: Mohapi Moeketsi Violation/issue: Harassed On July 27, Public Eye photographer Mohapi Moeketsi was manhandled by All Basotho Convention (ABC) supporters in Rothe constituency. They confiscated his camera and pushed him around. The photographer had gone to Rothe to cover the protest by the ABC supporters who held the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) personnel hostage, protesting that election results should not be announced before alleged irregularities were addressed. The photographer suffered no serious injuries during the incident. • ALERT Date: October 10, 2008 Institutions: The Mirror newspapers Violation/issue: Charged and sentenced A defunct Lesotho weekly, The Mirror, its editor and EPIC Printers were slapped with a M50,000 (then the equivalent to about US$8,000) fine by the High Court of Lesotho on September 29 for defaming Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili. Justice Nomngcongo said the publication, its editor and EPIC Printers were jointly convicted and ordered to pay M50,000. The Mirror stopped publishing in 2005, citing financial constraints. Lesotho’s statutes still carry insult laws which senior politicians and government officials have used against the media to demand hefty compensation on allegations of defamation. Often the demands have left media organisations bankrupt. So This Is Democracy? 2008 -40- Media Institute of Southern Africa