Botswana insult arrest condemned By BBC World News 12 November 2009 A South African woman has expressed outrage at being arrested and detained overnight in Botswana, accused of insulting the countrys president,President Ian Khama has a white mother and black father. Dorsey Dube says she compared Ian Khama to a Boesman, a derogatory South African term for a mixed-race person. There was no immediate comment available from the Botswana authorities about the incident. Ms Dube, 27, said she and several friends were returning to South Africa from a funeral when she commented on a picture of President Khama. My comment was: He looks coloured. A coloured [mixed-race]person is called a Boesman. This officer, she called us into the office and she said youve insulted the president, she said. We were taken to the police station. Apparently, in Botswana, the president is not supposed to look coloured. Ms Dube said she and two of her friends were interrogated for several hours and kept overnight at the police station where they were questioned on links to the main opposition party. They were only allowed to contact the South African embassy the following morning. It was so traumatising, none of us have been to jail, we dont have a criminal record, we are loyal South African citizens, she said. The arrest happened in late September, just ahead of elections in which Mr Khama, who is of mixed race, was re-elected as president. The trio were released the following day, after the intervention of the embassy.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 06:44:50 +0000
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