• ALERT Date: December 11, 2007 Persons: Public Eye newspaper, radio Harvest FM Violation: Censored On December 11 2007, the People’s Choice radio was shut down in the early hours of the morning following an attack by the Communications Minister Mothetjoa Metsing who accused the radio of promoting disorder in the country. It is said that some parts of the transmitter are not working and only technicians from the communications ministry are allowed to fix anything at the transmitter. According to information gathered by MISA Lesotho, PC FM has a contract with the Lesotho Broadcasting services that stipulates that should anything break on the PC channel, technicians from the government should fix it within 24 hours. MISA Lesotho has been reliably told that technicians were ordered not to fix the problem. “Our boss said no one should work on the PC transmitter problem,” a PC FM manager was told. Minister Metsing only said he was not aware of the PC FM shut down. The shut down came during the time when opposition leaders had called for a stay away in order to force the government to level the ground for talks regarding a simmering national assembly seat allocation. • ALERT Date: August 1, 2007 Persons: People’s Choice FM Violation: Bombed (Raided) On August 1 2007, two uniformed Lesotho Defence Force members entered People’s Choice FM offices demanding the tapes of a June 25 programme ‘Thaha-Meso’ hosted by freelance presenter Malehloka Ralitapole. PC FM station manager told MISA Lesotho that two officers from LDF Public Affairs office who were in full uniform came to the Radio Station offices and asked for the tapes of the programme in which the army was the main subject following a spate of abductions of civilians from June 22. Ralitapole had hosted Hape Tsakatse, a trade unionist-turned politician who lambasted the army for dishing out human rights abuses to the civilians. Ralitapole alleged on the same programme that the civilians were being abducted by the members of the Lesotho Defence Force who were then denying their involvement in the abductions. Station Manager Kholu Qhobela refused to hand over the tapes. Allegations of the army being involved in the abductions were verified during the army’s confession during a recent press conference. Army officials claimed that they had taken the abductees into custody as part of a “security operation” while they searched for missing guns that had been taken from army officers on guard at Minister’s residences. • ALERT Date: July 20, 2007 Persons: Thabang Moliko Violation: Detained On July 20 2007, People’s Choice FM presenter Thabang Moliko was arrested by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service who questioned him about his alleged partisan politics. He was released at midnight on the same day after being questioned by the police. Moliko said he was called on his mobile phone by a police officer who asked him to report to the police headquarters. He was later asked to hand in his mobile phone to the police officers before being locked in one of the police forensic investigation offices. Moliko was specifically asked about his program at PC FM where he presents an early morning Bana ba Khoale phone-in program. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -38- Media Institute of Southern Africa