SECTOR 1 Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.6 (2005 = 1.9; 2007 = 1.9; 2009 = 1.3; 2011 =1 .8) 1.3 There are no laws or parts of laws restricting freedom of expression such as excessive official secret, libel acts, legal requirements that restrict the entry into the journalistic profession or laws that unreasonably interfere with the functions of media. MISA recently undertook an analysis of the legislation, and found that there are 15 laws that negatively impact on the media. Many of these laws have not been used, but the threat is always there. In October, the Sunday Standard broke a story about President Khama being involved in a car accident. Soon after the story broke, the DIS started searching for the journalist who wrote the story. He fled to South Africa, seeking temporary asylum, while the editor Outsa Mokone was arrested and the Sunday Standard offices raided by the police. Mokone was charged with sedition. However, it is not certain that the arrest was a consequence of the story about the car accident, as many people in the media sector believe that the actions by the State could be related to other stories the Sunday Standard was writing, which focused on corruption in the DIS. These actions are being seen as a form of intimidation meant to deter potential sources “who will think twice before engaging with the media.” The Penal Code under which Mokone was charged dates back to 1964, and it is probably the first time that the sedition law has been used against a journalist in the last two decades. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Botswana 2014 15