25 May 2021

There is no specific law that requires the police to give protection to journalists covering courts from being assaulted, either by suspects or relatives of the suspects. 

Head of Botswana Police Service Public Relations Unit, Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube revealed in an interview that the law is silent on whether it was the duty of police officers to ensure that the safety of journalist covering courts was guaranteed.  

He said journalists covering the courts were deemed as members of the general public and there was no special dispensation accorded to them by the police. 

The interview followed a recent incident in which a Botswana Press Agency Reporter was assaulted by an accused person at the Francistown Magistrate Court, resulting in the smashing of a government camera. 

Last year, journalists from the same media house, who were covering another trial at the Francistown High Court, were threatened by relatives of the accused person, when they were trying to take photographs of the accused person. 

Assistant Commissioner Motube advised that the only option, if such an incident happened, was to report the matter to the police. 

“Even though the mandate of the police is to protect the lives and property of the people, when in court they ensure that no danger is imposed during court proceedings, but in a situation where an assault does take place, we advise the victims to report the incident to the police,” he said. 

He also advised journalists, especially photojournalists, to police themselves and keep a distance from suspects because they were considered ‘dangerous’. 

Mr Motube said police officers escorting suspects had to follow the protocols as specified by the judiciary officials, which meant there was very little they could  do to ensure safety of journalists. 

“If the assault does happen in their presence, then of course the police have to intervene and protect both parties,” he added.

He said in courts, the law requires that judicial officers be the ones who are accorded protection by the police. 

The editor of The Voice newspaper in Francistown, Mr Kabelo Dipholo is of the view that the protection of journalists covering courts was paramount, saying they were there for public interest. 

Mr Dipholo said many a times, journalists covering court proceedings were threatened and assaulted by either the suspect or their relatives, but law enforcement officers in court did not intervene.  

He said the situation in customary courts was worse because some suspects appeared without hands or leg cuffs even though they were rough and unpredictable. 

He said The Voice newspaper had lost many cameras after its photo journalists were attacked and assaulted in court, but little was being done to address the situation. 

 “We have to take clear pictures of suspects who are a threat to the community to warn the public, but we are also forced to keep a distance from the suspects,” he said. 

He explained that many incidents like these went unreported as journalists became fearful of the suspects as they were individuals already deemed a danger to the general public. 

Mr Dipholo appealed to government and other relevant authorities for the protection of journalists covering court proceedings, otherwise journalists would continue to be assaulted in the line of duty.

With no law in place to protect journalists, he said they had taken it upon themselves to attend court cases in groups of twos or threes, so that they could also protect and defend themselves from such perpetrators.  

He called for a cordial relationship between the police and journalists because they were ‘two sides of a coin’. Ends