MURDER CHARGE: Lesotho PM appears in court, pushes for immunity from prosecution

The Prime Minister of Lesotho, Thomas Thabane is pushing for immunity in a murder charge against him alleging his involvement in the killing of his estranged wife, Lipolelo Thabane, 58, in the year 2017.

A magistrate on Monday temporarily adjourned the court case of Lesotho’s Prime Minister to decide whether he can be charged with murdering his estranged wife while in office, reports the BBC’s Pumza Fihlani from neighbouring South Africa.

Reports say the High Court in Lesotho will now rule whether Thabane can be charged with the murder of his ex-wife after his lawyers objected to him being charged while in office.

The lawyers of Mr Thabane who had said that he would step down as prime minister in July, resisting pressure from his own party to leave office immediately, said they wanted to approach the Constitutional Court, but the magistrate referred the case to the High Court, which is a lower court.

READ ALSO: CORONAVIRUS: China expels foreign journalists over opinion piece as death toll rises to 2,000

The development comes days after Mr Thabane’s denied fleeing the country for South Africa after he failed to appear in court to face charges of murdering his estranged wife.

The PM’s office said late on Friday that Mr Thabane had gone there for a medical checkup instead, stating further that he (Thomas) respects the rule of law and that he plans to appear before the court when he returns from South Africa.

Paseka Mokete, the Deputy Commissioner of Police had also told reporters he was not aware of Mr Thabane’s whereabouts, but said that if he was out of the country receiving treatment then they would wait to resume the case when he returns.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now