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Botswana’s ex-president requests court to set aside arrest warrant

Botswana’s former president
Ian Khama has filed an urgent court application seeking to
strike down an arrest warrant issued against him by a magistrate
last week.

Khama, whose father Seretse Khama was Botswana’s founding
president, is in a dispute with his successor and incumbent
President Mokgweetsi Masisi which resulted in him quitting the
ruling Botswana Democratic Party in 2019.

The charges on him include unlawful possession of a firearm, receiving
stolen property and procuring the registration of a firearm by
false pretences.

READ MORE: Botswana hopes for new leader to ride on Khama’s success

Khama has asked the high court in Gaborone for the warrant
against him to be set aside or for its execution to be stayed,
citing a lack of evidence for his prosecution, court papers
released on Thursday showed.

“The warrant of arrest threatens my right to liberty in
circumstances where I have committed no crime…should this
warrant of arrest not be stayed or set aside…I would suffer
irreparable harm which cannot be compensated for in any form,”
he said in the filing.

His lawyer said Khama is still waiting to be given a date
for the hearing. Khama has missed court appearances since he was
charged in April, saying he feared for his life in Botswana.

Khama is now the patron of a splinter political party, the Botswana Patriotic Front.

READ MORE: Botswana’s ruling party BDP wins general election

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