Spies sue Intelligence Unit after arrests

Botswana’s Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) has been hit with several lawsuits from suspended agents, reports Mmegionline. Barely months after three of its top agents filed a P4 450m ($325 740) lawsuit for unlawful arrest and detention following their suspension by DG Peter Magosi, more spies are now suing the unit; the latest being agents Sebuweng Mukani and Mpho Molokwane. The first lot of agents were suspended in March 2024 following allegations of leaking confidential information. Now Mukani and Molokwane are suing the directorate for P2 200m ($161 040) each. Mukani is a special agent who worked with the DIS since 2008, while Molokwane’s office is generally tasked with intelligence gathering and investigative work for DIS. In recently filed court papers, Mukani and Molokwane, allege that prior to being put on indefinite suspension, they had been barred from the workplace for a period of nearly a month by verbal order issued by the DIS chief of staff who at the time purported to have been acting on behalf of Magosi. Following their suspension, the agents said they were subjected to a series of unlawful arrests, detention and searched by the same joint team of DIS officers and the Botswana police officers over the same allegations of leaking information. In their lawsuit, the agents claim that no specific crime was disclosed to them at the time of arrest or during the period of detention warranting their arrest, detention and searches and that to date no specific crime has been stated. They add that no judicial warrants were obtained for the arrests, detentions and searches.

Full Mmegionline report