Botswana spy agency 'regrets' arrest of reporters, vows to improve relations with media

• Botswana's Directorate of Intelligence and Security says it regrets the arrest of journalists from leading independent newspaper Mmegi last week.
• Media freedom defenders say the arrest tainted Botswana's reputation as a shining example of media freedom.
• The International Press Institute says significant reforms must be made to strengthen protections for press freedom in Botswana.

The Botswana Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) said it detained the editor and a journalist from Mmegi newspaper because of "reasonable suspicion", but it regrets the development.

This was after the Botswana Editors Forum (BEF) and the Botswana chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) engaged the spy organisation over the arrest of editor Ryder Gabathuse and senior reporter Innocent Selatlhwa a few hours before the paper's Thursday deadline.

"The directorate carried out the said investigation on reasonable suspicion that the persons in question had conducted themselves in contravention of the Intelligence and Security Services Act (2008)," the DIS said.

The two journalists were released without any charges laid in the early hours of Friday from an undisclosed location, but their phones and laptops were confiscated by the DIS.

READ | 'I am a warrant myself': State security agents detain journalists in Botswana

The DIS said it was not its intention to appear as if it were interfering with media freedom, as the situation turned out to be.

"The directorate, however, regrets that in the process of its investigation, an impression was created that it seeks to interfere with the work of journalists and does not appreciate the role of the media in a democracy," the DIS said.

The DIS's response came after the Botswana Editors Forum (BEF) and the Botswana chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) engaged the spy organisation over the arrest.

In a joint statement, MISA and BEF said: "The [DIS] conceded that the manner in which the two Mmegi journalists, Gabathuse and Selatlhwa, were recently arrested was regrettable."

The DIS said it was open to engagement with the media because this is "in the best interest of democracy and national security". 

According to the International Press Institute, while the media industry in Botswana is freer than in many other southern African nations, significant reforms must be made to strengthen protections for press freedom and guarantee that all media in the nation can function without interference from the political and governmental spheres.

Last year, Botswana passed the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Bill, which was widely viewed as an unwarranted surveillance law that threatens press freedom.

With lobbying from MISA, BEF, and other press freedom defenders, the DIS was not granted the authority to detain people at will.

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