It took a single video complaining about Lesotho’s unemployment rate to turn Tšolo Thakeli into the prime minister’s enemy. Within a day of posting, there were armed police at his door. He had no idea his post would land him in trouble; after all, he had campaigned for a long time, under different governments, for action on jobs for young people.
But this month’s video by Thakeli, asking why the premier, Sam Matekane, had not delivered on a promise to create jobs, had struck a chord with young people, who began sharing and discussing the post online. Initial attempts to charge him with insulting Matekane and inciting violence were abandoned due to lack of evidence. He was released but re-arrested the same day and charged with sedition. Now on bail, his lawyer has heard that the authorities are considering revoking it to force him to remain in custody before a trial on 2 July.
Thakeli’s arrest sparked protests in Lesotho’s capital, Maseru, but also concern among human rights activists in the wider southern African region over the attack on an individual expressing concern over basic social problems.
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