SALC: After a year of postponements and delays, the High Court of Botswana has set 15 May 2024 as the date to hear the constitutional challenge of Section 59(1) of the Botswana Penal Code. The provision is phrased in vague and broad terms and curtails freedom of expression. It further places an undue burden on the individual who seeks to exercise their right to expression and can easily be prone to abuse by those in positions of power who disapprove of the content being expressed.

On 13 July 2022, Tshepo Junior Sethibe was arrested and charged under Section 59(1) of the Penal Code for publishing “alarming statements” after he posted several comments on his Facebook page, criticising the police in Lobatse. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at the time of his arrest, two laptops, a desktop and three mobile phones with all their passwords were confiscated by the police.

Read full article: High Court sets a date for constitutional challenge on ‘alarming publications’ provision