Jonathan RozenThe original Criminal Procedure and Evidence Bill, which was tabled in January in Botswana, offered law enforcement access to communications by "any means" without a warrant.
While Botswana has introduced judicial oversight after a new law was published earlier this year which allows warantless surveillance, there is still cause for concern, writesWhen Botswana's government sought to pass a new law early this year that would have allowed for warrantless surveillance, local opposition was swift.
"We do not, of course, welcome the law. We welcome the changes that were made to it," Spencer Mogapi, the chairperson of the Botswana Editors Forum, told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a recent phone interview.The original Criminal Procedure and Evidence Bill, which was tabled in January and reviewed by CPJ, offered law enforcement access to communications by"any means" without a warrant.