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TV news head quits over government interference

    JOHANNESBURG

    The head of Botswana’s television news and current affairs, Chris Bishop, said on Monday that he has resigned because of the government’s attempts to control news broadcasts, DPA reported. Bishop said his move was triggered by the government’s recent refusal to allow him to air a documentary on Marietta Bosch, the South African woman convicted of murder and subsequently executed secretly a month ago.

    “There has been previous harassment and interference, but the Bosch murder case brought out what had been there all along,” Bishop said. “The journalists at Botswana television news (BTV) and myself have often been harassed by officialdom. It has rendered the running of television news impractical.”

    Bishop and his news team prepared the documentary on the Bosch case, but the office of the president, which exercises responsibility over broadcasting, would not allow it to be aired, saying the programme could have led to litigation against the government. Marietta Bosch, 50, was hanged in Gaborone on 31 March, following her conviction in December 1999 for the murder of her best friend, Maria Wolmarans.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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