WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2009-05-19 Time: 01:00:15 Posted By: Jan
By Gasebalwe Seretse
The warning signs were there even before Ian Khama became president, many Batswana became wary of the overwhelming presence of the police and soldiers on Gaborone city streets.
Some welcomed the move in the light of the rising crime that could be attributed to the increase of Zimbabweans criminals. Others were suspicious that since Khama was a former military man perhaps he wanted to make everyone to feel the grip of his forthcoming government. During his inaugural speech last year, he declared, “Nothing can be achieved successfully without discipline in any society.” While Khama’s detractors were dismayed at what they perceived as impending doom, his fans and the police lapped up his every word.
Khama’s speech came under the scrutiny of many social commentators some speaking for others against it but back then it was hard to judge Khama as the man was new on the job.
Nowadays it goes without saying that the police strongly feel that they have been vested with more powers than they ever had during the presidency of Khama’s predecessors.
Writing for Mmegi in an earlier article, correspondent Bashi Letsididi quoted Mohammed Khan of the Botswana National Front (BNF)saying: “There are instances when the police bully and brutalise people.”
There is general fear of the police in Botswana and a small offence that can be corrected with a warning is likely to attract the highest penalty available.
The police are no fools, they know that the law is fully behind them when they are on duty and if they happen to confront somebody who is not well-versed in law, they are likely to make sure that they manhandle him or her before dragging him to a court of law for further punishment.
In his story, Letsididi noted, “There is no epidemic of police brutality and Botswana can hardly be called a police state but there are instances when some officers overstep the mark.”
What Letsididi did not outline is that history has proven time and again that more often than not, for a country to become a police state it is a process that happens over a long period of time and one day when citizens wake up, they find themselves in a predicament.
There has been many instances some recorded, some not when Botswana police ‘overstepped the mark.’
When new traffic laws were mentioned last year, a respected opposition politician became a ‘victim’ of an overzealous police officer who charged him for running through the red robot. When the elderly politician pleaded his innocence, he was threatened with the impoundment of his car. Seeing that the officer was not ready to listen to him, he had no choice but to part with his hard-earned cash.
Any refusal on his part to cooperate would have greatly inconvenienced him because his vehicle would have been impounded and he would have been taken to court.
One of the cases that Batswana are not going to forget in a hurry is the one in which some officers on duty forced some poor Zimbabweans to perform sex acts to their gratification.
How ironic that officers, who were charged with protecting citizens, including perceived criminals became law-breakers themselves.
Something must have clicked in their minds that they were above the law but like any other citizens, civilian or not the long arm of the law finally caught up with them.
It is sadly true that some officers are blinded by the fact that they know that the law is behind them they are on duty and they tend to bend it a bit maybe for ‘entertainment’ at the expense of citizens.
Speaking to Mmegi, a lawyer who did not want to be mentioned for fear of victimisation says that he agrees that a lot of time, the police tend to be overzealous.
He cited a case in which his partner was arrested for allegedly drinking in public and the officers in questions made it clear that they wanted just wanted to punish him just because he was a lawyer.
Stories are circulating of people being arrested in car parks for not wearing seatbelts, people being arrested for drinking liquor a few feet from their homes and drivers being charged for going over the speed limit, even if it the perpetrator just went over exceeded by a few kilometres per an hour.
It seems nowadays, it is impossible to get off with a courteous warning.
“The police are not bound to let you to get Scot free even if you feel the offence is a minor one. What one needs to do is to negotiate with them so they give you a lighter penalty,” says the lawyer who adds that arguing with the police whether your are right or wrong can only serve to bring more trouble as they might even charge the perpetrator with a more serious offence.
The lawyer says that when one is arrested by the police, he or she should know that he or she has the right to a lawyer and good treatment.
He also advises the public to ask for options when they are charged.
“There are some minor offences in which one can choose to pay admission of guilty which is normally finalised with the police. If you insist on going to a Kgotla or magistrate court, you may find yourself with a criminal record even if your case was a minor one,” he says.
He further says that people should know that they should not be treated as criminals until they are convicted by a court of law and that if they are not treated well by the police, they should report to senior officer.
In Letsididi’s story, Mohammed Khan of the Botswana National Front rightly said, “Right now, the police and members of the public are in opposing camps.”
The big question now is, who is behind the police brutality? Are the police entirely to blame or is the present government behind everything.
Surely if Khama wants to absolve himself of any blame he should have a talk with his minister Dikgakgamatso Seretse under whose ministry the police fall or else nothing will stop Batswana from being jittery.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 15 May 2009
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200905180939.html?viewall=1