{"id":25251,"date":"2023-02-13T08:54:19","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T08:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage"},"modified":"2023-02-13T09:22:45","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T09:22:45","slug":"media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage","title":{"rendered":"Media bashed for clumsy reportage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>The local media came under heavy criticism this week for alleged flawed reporting of the murder case of slain army boss Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Maaparankoe Mahao.<\/p>\n

High Court judge, Justice Charles Hungwe, was on Thursday asked to order the media to accurately report on court proceedings. The judge was also asked to prevent news reporters from taking pictures of witnesses in court.<\/p>\n

On Thursday this week when proceedings started Justice Hungwe undertook to make the order later in the afternoon, but failed to do so when the session resumed.<\/p>\n

The request came at the back of the Crown witness Lance Corporal Mokete Halahala\u2019s complaint that he had been misrepresented by the media following his testimony the previous day.<\/p>\n

This, he said, is mostly done by local radio stations which he did not name. \u201cMy fear is the kind of reporting done by the media. I don\u2019t recall speaking about Brigadier Mokaloba but it\u2019s said elsewhere in the media that I made mention of Brigadier Mokaloba in my evidence,\u201d the witness said.<\/p>\n

He added \u201cwith your permission My Lord, I am calling on the media to report what I have said in the court. \u201d Halahala\u2019s sentiments were shared by Lead Prosecutor, Advocate Shaun Abrahams, who said it is important that the media reports accurately about the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Accurate reporting, he asserted, becomes more important in criminal matters as there is a risk of painting things the way they are not. \u201cThe choice of words should also be accurate.<\/p>\n

That is why we are seeking an order that the media should report accurately about these proceedings,\u201d Abrahams added. The defence was in agreement with the prosecution on the matter, and said the court should intervene in protecting its proceedings.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only with this particular witness but with the accused persons who have been victims of such reporting,\u201d defense lawyer, Advocate Napo Mafaesa, said.<\/p>\n

Mafaesa told the court that in some of the instances, not only are merits of the case discussed but commentators go ahead to say witnesses are lying, insisting that the court should take steps in protecting its proceedings.<\/p>\n

For his part Advocate Kabelo Letuka said it is the responsibility of the court, defense and prosecution to protect proceedings. He called on the media to stop antagonising its clients, adding that \u201call we seek is responsible reporting.
\nWhen the case resumed, Advocate Letuka Molati cross examined Lance Corporal Halahala and questioned him about Mahao\u2019s killing, putting it to the witness that Major General Lineo Poopa will testify when his turn comes that an operation to arrest Mahao was a lawful exercise.<\/p>\n

Molati also told the court that his client, retired army commander Lt Gen Tlali Kamoli, will tell the court that there are high ranking officers who ran away to neighboring South Africa when they learned that the Lesotho Defence Force was on an operation to arrest suspected mutiny suspects.<\/p>\n

These, he said, included the current small business minister, Chief Thesele \u2019Maseribane to which Halahala indicated he will not comment because \u2019Maseribane is his chief.<\/p>\n

Halahala was also asked if he knew about the 23 officers who were arrested for mutiny but were never charged before a civil court. The officers are said to have been charged before a Court Martial but their case never got to the oral evidence stage.<\/p>\n

One of the 23 officers, Molati said, was Colonel Phoka Nkeli who was rewarded with an embassy job such that \u201csomebody had to be removed when they were about to board a plane for Nkeli to be the one leaving.<\/p>\n

\u201d Halahala told the court on Wednesday that he and one of the accused, Corporal Marasi \u2018Moleli received a tip off that there would be a mutiny. In the case Lt Gen Kamoli, along with other soldiers have been charged with the murder of Mahao.<\/p>\n

The other soldiers are: Captain Litekanyo Nyakane, Captain Haleo Makara, Sergeant Lekhooa Moepi, Sergeant Motsamai Fako, Corporal Marasi \u2019Moleli, Corporal Mots\u030coane Machai, Corporal Mohlalefi Seitlheko and Corporal Ts\u030citso Ramoholi.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. The local media came under heavy criticism this week for alleged flawed reporting of the murder case of slain army boss Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Maaparankoe Mahao. High Court judge, Justice Charles Hungwe, was on Thursday asked to order the media to accurately report on court proceedings. The judge was also asked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":25250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233,246,245,1040],"class_list":["post-25251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-media"],"yoast_head":"\nMedia bashed for clumsy reportage - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The local media came under heavy criticism this week for alleged flawed reporting of the murder case of slain army boss ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Media bashed for clumsy reportage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The local media came under heavy criticism this week for alleged flawed reporting of the murder case of slain army boss ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-13T08:54:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-13T09:22:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1676265949.65.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"999\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Media bashed for clumsy reportage\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-13T08:54:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-13T09:22:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage\"},\"wordCount\":687,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1676265949.65.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"media\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/media-bashed-for-clumsy-reportage\",\"name\":\"Media bashed for clumsy reportage - 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