Lesotho’s
prime minister has made a surprise appearance in court to hear lawyers argue
that his office granted him immunity from prosecution for murdering his
estranged wife shortly before he took power.
Thomas
Thabane, 80, was questioned by police about the shooting two days before his
inauguration in 2017 and was due to be charged with murder last week.
However, the veteran politician did not attend
the court hearing in Maseru, the capital of the small mountain kingdom, saying
he had to travel to neighbouring South Africa for medical treatment.
Lipolelo
Thabane, 58, was shot several times at close range as she sat in a car near her
home. She had reportedly refused to divorce her husband and won a court battle
to retain her privileges as first lady until any formal separation.
Thabane
remarried two months after her death. His second wife, Maesaiah, 42, was charged with murder this month after
briefly fleeing the country. Both deny any wrongdoing.
The Prime Minister’s
spokesman, Thabo Thakalekoala, told the Guardian that the whole exercise of
bringing Thabane to court was meant to embarrass him.
“The Prime Minister is protected by the
constitution although he is not above the law. This whole exercise is just
meant to embarrass him and nothing else,” said Thakalekoala.
Thabane sat
in the public gallery with his second wife as his lawyer Qhalehand Letseka
argued that the murder charge against a sitting Prime Minister raised a
significant constitutional issue that needed to be resolved before charges
could be read against his client.
The Magistrate,
Phetise Motanyane, agreed to refer the case to a higher court.
Thabane has
said he will resign at the end of July, and several members of his own All
Basotho Convention (ABC) party have been pressuring him to go sooner to avert a
political crisis.
Lesotho has a history of coups and
political instability. Many fear a power vacuum unless the ABC can agree on a
successor, and analysts expect a general election will have to be called soon.
The kingdom
is one of the least developed countries in southern Africa. A recent survey by
the World Bank found some improvement over a 15-year period
but said nearly half of the 3 million residents lived in poverty.
Aid agencies have said more than 500,000 people face severe food shortages in the coming months following
a protracted drought. In recent years Lesotho has tried to generate income
through the cultivation of medical marijuana and tourism.
The case was
brought back into the spotlight in January by a letter from Lesotho’s police
chief, which claimed communication records showed that someone at the murder
scene had called Thabane’s mobile phone on the day of the crime. The killing
was initially blamed on unknown criminals.
Lesotho has one of the highest murder rates in
the world. Investigators have since said they believe professional hitmen
carried out the attack.Maesaiah
Thabane, the new first lady, has been a controversial figure.
Since the
wedding, for which she was two hours late, she has been accused of interfering
in political appointments, while a fund she set up to help reduce poverty has
faced allegations of fraud and money laundering. – The Guardian
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