LESOTHO: FORMER POLITICAL REFUGEES GIVE PRESS CONFERENCE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000142 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/S, DS/IP/AF, DS/IP/ITA PRETORIA FOR DATT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PGOV LT SUBJECT: LESOTHO: FORMER POLITICAL REFUGEES GIVE PRESS CONFERENCE REF: A) 07 MASERU 398 B) 07 MASERU 385 C) MASERU 116 MASERU 00000142 001.2 OF 002 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. Three Lesotho nationals who fled Lesotho in July 2007 held a press conference on Monday, May 4, 2009, two months after their return to Lesotho from South Africa. The LDF had detained the men in 2007 in connection with the search for army rifles which had been forcibly taken from military guards at ministerial residences (refs A & B). Originally, six men fled Lesotho at different times after some of them were detained by the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) and others fled fearing the army would detain them as well. All six were part of opposition leader Tom Thabane's security team. One died in exile, one remains in South Africa, and four have now returned to Lesotho. At the press conference, the group informed the press corps about the ordeal they went through while in exile and stressed that they would be "staying out of politics" for some time to come. -------------- -------------- Former asylum seekers promote ABC leadership change -------------- -------------- ¶2. Motlomelo Elias Motlomelo, Mokherane Tsatsanyane, and Thabo Thants'i convened a press conference on Monday, May 4, 2009 at the Roman Catholic church hall in Maseru. This was their first public appearance since their return to Lesotho in March 2009. The purpose of the press event was to notify the Basotho people that they are back in the country and express their gratitude to those who helped them when they were in exile in South Africa. They talked about the hardship they went through and took the opportunity to criticize Tom Thabane and the entire leadership of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) for not providing any assistance to them while they were in South Africa. They claimed that they obtained political assistance through their own initiative without any help from their party. Thants'i stated that his mother passed away while he was still in exile, and after his arrival in the country, he did get any support from the leadership of the ABC. He expressed anger that there were no ABC representatives at his mother's funeral. On behalf of the group, Tsatsanyane stated that they were still ABC members but they are no longer going to take part in active politics for some time, or until there is a change in the leadership of the party. -------------- -------------- On "probation," though never charged with a crime -------------- -------------- ¶3. Tsatsanyane pointed out that in their endeavor to exonerate themselves from the 2007 attacks on ministerial residences they contacted Commissioner of Police `Malejaka Letooane and her Assistant for Criminal Investigation Service (CIS) John Selete to inform them of their desire to come back to Lesotho and hand themselves over to the police. According to the three men, the police agreed with their request and upon arrival they were questioned by police and released but no charges were filed against them. Motlomelo expressed concern that they were accused of high treason in Lesotho but after they fled from Lesotho, the Lesotho authorities never made a formal request for their extradition, which he said illustrates that they were accused of crimes they did not commit. He said they are required to report to the police every day except on Sundays even though they have never been charged with any crime. -------------- -------------- Asylum seekers claim GOL using Lerotholi as scapegoat -------------- -------------- ¶4. Tsatsanyane, although reluctant to elaborate, indicated that they will take some kind of legal action against the government for the suffering they went through. They plan to do that once Makotoko Lerotholi (ref C) is back in Lesotho. They were also adamant that reports from the police indicate that Lerotholi is still in South Africa and could not have been involved in the recent attempted assassination of the Prime Minister in Maseru. He added that even in the 2008 attacks on military and police vehicles, the police and the LDF claimed Lerotholi was seen but Tsatsanyane argued that the two were together in Johannesburg at the time and Lerotholi was ill. He added that it was a pity that some people have chosen to use him as a scapegoat. Tsatsanyane said that the group should be left to live in peace, and urged authorities to investigate a lot of crimes which have remained unsolved, such as the killing of the Prime Minister's son in 2001 and the fatal shooting of the late BNP member, Bereng Sekhonyana, in 2006. The three men concluded by pledging their allegiance to the King of Lesotho, and urging the youth to "stand up" and work for the betterment of the country and their future. MASERU 00000142 002.2 OF 002 -------------- The Public Responds -------------- ¶5. The former refugees also spoke on the Harvest FM current affairs program "Rise and Shine" on Tuesday, May 5. Some of the listeners lashed out at them for being ungrateful and also accused them of wrongfully attacking the ABC leader. Callers on "Rise and Shine" also claimed that the LCD is focused on destabilizing the ABC. They argue that ABC rallies and press events are never televised, but to their surprise, the press conference convened by the three afore-mentioned men criticizing Thabane, was aired on Lesotho Television, which is government controlled and the only local television station, for more than ten minutes. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. Some local analysts felt that the three former refugees did not offer anything substantial at the press conference. Advocating leadership change in the ABC, the largest opposition party, was a surprise to many people and has ignited rumors that the governing Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) has bought Thantsi, Tsatsanyane, and Motlomelo to discredit Thabane and bring the party leadership into disrepute, which would clearly benefit the LCD. Embassy sources are also astonished by the claim made by the three that they never got any party support. Sources argue that, every time the former refugees appeared in court in South Africa, bus loads of ABC supporters from Lesotho attended the proceedings to offer support. Some also pointed out that ABC supporters also made financial contributions towards the welfare of the refugees. Thabane has not yet reacted to any of the statements made by the former asylum seekers. Local observers and the general public are eager to hear what he will say. NOLAN