Newsday Lesotho Editor Abducted, Tortured in Maseru Attack

Maseru — Newsday Lesotho Editor and human rights defender, Kananelo Boloetse was abducted from his home, interrogated about his work, violently assaulted and left for dead in a remote area over the weekend, in what his organisation has described as a targeted attack on press freedom.

Boloetse, the News Editor of Newsday Media, was seized from his residence in Katlehong, Maseru, at approximately 7pm on Saturday, 5 September 2026.

Reports say three men drove him away, subjected him to interrogation focused on his journalism and human rights advocacy, and assaulted him with extreme brutality before abandoning him, gravely injured, in Thaba-Bosiu.

After regaining consciousness, Boloetse is said managed to "limp" to a nearby road, where a passing Sprinter driver rescued him.

He survived the ordeal but remains deeply traumatised and in fear for his life, Newsday said in a statement, adding that his phones and other valuables were left untouched, a detail they cited as evidence that the attack was not a conventional criminal robbery.

Some of the injuries Boloetse sustained after the torture.

In a press statement on Sunday, 6 September, Newsday Media condemned the attack.

The organisation stated the attackers warned that if he made the assault public, they would return and kill him.

Newsday Media said Boloetse's neighbours reported seeing a suspicious silver Toyota Starlet bearing registration number A 887 BBC repeatedly driving along the street and stopping opposite the Editor's residence during the afternoon before the abduction.

Some residents also expressed suspicions of a possible link to members of one of Lesotho’s security agencies.

In the statement, Newsday Media said certain names or descriptions allegedly used by the abductors were also noted.

The organisation also stated that the information remain witness accounts and suspicions requiring rigorous, impartial investigation, not established facts.

Newsday Media Managing Editor, Lerato Matheka, said the nature of the interrogation, the explicit threats and the level of violence strongly suggest Boloetse was targeted because of his professional duties.

“This was not a robbery,” the organisation stated, adding that “An attack on a journalist for performing his professional duties is an attack on the public’s right to know.”

Newsday said the incident also follows a serious cyberattack on its website and email services after some of the outlet’s investigative reporting.

They said it occurs amid the organisation’s efforts, linked to Section 2, to seek clarity and accountability on education financing in Lesotho.

Newsday Media warned of an escalating pattern of intimidation against journalists, human rights defenders and institutions pursuing transparency.

The media house has called on the Lesotho Mounted Police Service to open a thorough, independent and transparent investigation, including tracing the identified vehicle, securing evidence and bringing perpetrators and any possible instigators to justice.

It has further urged the Government of Lesotho to publicly condemn the attack and guarantee the safety of Boloetse, his family and the Newsday team.

Appeals have also been directed to civil society, media organisations, human rights bodies, the international community, diplomatic missions, United Nations agencies and press freedom groups for solidarity, protection and a place of safety for the editor.

The attack has revived painful memories of Lesotho’s long and troubled history of political violence, targeted killings and assaults on those who challenge power or report critically.

Dating back to the 80s, in November 1986, former Lesotho Ministers Monts’i Vincent Makhele and Ts’epo Desmond Themba Sixishe, together with their wives, were abducted from a residence and executed by gunfire near a military training camp.

Two companions, Tsolo Lelala and his wife, survived by feigning death. Military figures were later convicted in connection with the crime.

In September 1981, outspoken newspaper Editor, Edgar Motuba of Leselinyana la Lesotho, and two companions were abducted by men claiming to be police and murdered.

More recent years have seen further high-profile violence. In June 2015, former Lesotho Defence Force commander Lieutenant-General Maaparankoe Mahao was assassinated by soldiers in an operation the military described as an arrest, however, a SADC inquiry and subsequent accounts painted a different picture.

In September 2017, then Lesotho Defense Forces Commander, Lieutenant-General Khoantle Motšomotšo, was killed in his office by senior officers.

That same year, Lipolelo Thabane, estranged wife of then-Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, was shot dead outside her home days before his inauguration.

Journalists have historically also been a target of suspect security agents in the country.

In 2016, Lesotho Times Editor, Lloyd Mutungamiri, was shot multiple times in the face by soldiers while in his car; the case faced prolonged delays.

In May 2023, radio journalist Ralikonelo “Leqhashasha” Joki was gunned down with multiple bullets as he left his studio after a current affairs programme.

The killing prompted a nationwide curfew and widespread condemnation.

In early last year, 2025, Basotho National Party leader Machesetsa Mofomobe survived an assassination attempt after being shot twice outside his home in Maseru.

The episodes form a grim backdrop against which the latest assault on Boloetse is being viewed which high suspicion that it is organised violence by state security.

Newsday Media has insisted the perpetrators must be identified and that those who ordered or enabled the attack must also be held accountable.

Silence and inaction, the organisation warned, will only embolden those who believe they can abduct, torture and attempt to kill journalists with impunity.