Lesotho The general elections in June 2017 may have heralded new beginnings for a country dealing with political instability which resulted in Lesotho heading for the polls for the third time in five years. The election came close on the heels of Democratic Congress (DC) Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili losing a noconfidence motion in March, partially because his cumbersome 7 party coalition had slowly disintegrated due to infighting less than two years after him taking office. This was the second coalition failure in three years. The disintegration of two successive coalition governments coupled with political violence at the highest levels of political insecurity as a consequence of internal factional contestation within the armed forces and tension between the police and army have had an impact on the country’s landscape. While freedom of expression is sluggishly being restored, it has been a challenging period, in particular for the media sector. According to an Amnesty International Report 2017/18, Nkoale Oetsi Tsoana, a journalist with Moeletsi Oa Basotho, received death threats from Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) supporters in August while he covered the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences’ investigation into corruption allegations against LCD leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing. The same day, Palo Mohlotsane, a PCFM radio journalist, received threats from the Deputy Leader and members of the LCD after he covered the same story. Nthakoana Ngatane, South African Broadcasting Corporation correspondent, received repeated online death threats from June onwards, after she reported on possible motives for the killing of Lipolelo Thabane. On 16 June crowds gathered outside MoAfrika FM radio station’s offices and threatened the owner, Sebonomoea Ramainoane, after the station implicated Prime Minister Thabane in the killing of his wife. The general elections in June 2017 may have heralded new beginnings for a country dealing with political instability which resulted in Lesotho heading for the polls for the third time in five years. On 8 September the Maseru Magistrate Court ordered Sebonomoea Ramainoane, also the station’s editor-in-chief, to release to the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) the station’s audio recordings of interviews aired between 28 August and 6 September. On 13 September, the authorities closed the station for 72 hours and on 15 September detained Sebonomoea Ramainoane for several hours. On 25 September, the Lesotho High Court cancelled the Magistrate Court’s order. On 29 August, exiled investigative journalist Keiso Mohloboli received online So This is Democracy? 2017 41