June 25, 2007: Initially accused with high treason, he was charged with “failure to report subversive activity” and released on bail on June 25, 2007. More than 700 people crowded outside police lockup in protest over the weekend, and more than 1,000 people gathered in protest outside court on the day of his hearing. August 9, 2007: Thakalekoala told MISA Lesotho that he feared for his life after he was tipped by highly reliable source within the Lesotho security agents that there is a plot to assassinate him. • ALERT Date: June 20, 2007 Persons: Private media in Lesotho Violation: Censored On June 20 2007, all private media outlets in Lesotho were banned from an inspection of recovered army rifles by government officials. Only government controlled media that included Radio Lesotho, Lesotho Television and Lentsoe la Basotho newspaper were allowed entry in the police territory during inspection. Ministers were inspecting recovered army rifles that were taken from army officers on duty at Ministers’ official residences in June. “One police officer in plain clothes came to us and told us we were not allowed entry during that inspection and he was choosing reporters only from government owned media to enter,” a reporter told MISA Lesotho. • ALERT Date: May 7, 2007 Persons: Public Eye newspaper Violation: Censored On May 7 2007, Public Eye newspaper was served with a letter of demand from the Phafane Chambers on instruction of the Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili who is their client. The newspaper is demanded to payment of approximately U $143 061 “being the damages for the defamatory matters and photographs” in various issues of Public Eye. According to the letter, Mosisili has informed his legal representatives that in various issues, Public Eye has claimed among others that a certain case in which one Motjope and others are charged with the crime of criminal defamation, is Mosisili’s adultery case and the newspaper has placed “in some of those issues, your computer generated photograph of our client in which he posed next to Dr. Ponts’o Sekatle, the Minister of Local Government. • ALERT Date: April 25, 2007 Persons: Public Eye Editor-in Chief, Bethuel Thai Violation: Threatened On April 25, Public Eye Editor-in Chief, Bethuel Thai, was summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Lesotho Mounted Police who demanded the newspaper become a state witness in a case in which opposition party leader Anthony Manyeli is charged with criminal defamation in the magistrate court. Manyeli is accused of corrupt practices in parliamentary seat allocations where the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy took some Proportional Representation seats to increase LCD’s number of seats in the National Assembly. Public Eye ran a face-to-face interview with Manyeli who lambasted the ruling party for corruption and malpractices in the electoral processes of the recently held general elections. Public Eye Editor-in-Chief Bethuel Thai said they could only provide a hard copy interview to the authorities and end there. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -40- Media Institute of Southern Africa