Lesotho Police Summon Premier for Questioning Over Murder
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Police in Lesotho summoned Prime Minister Thomas Thabane for questioning as part of an investigation into the 2017 murder of his second wife.
Thabane, 80, has said twice he’ll resign but has so far refused to give a timeline, despite calls for him to quit by both the opposition and his own party. A key suspect in the killing is 42-year-old Maesiah Thabane, the woman he married about two months after the slaying. She’s been on the run since last week and police have issued a warrant for her arrest.
READ: ‘Game of Thrones’ Has Nothing on Lesotho Murder Drama
The authorities asked Thabane to report to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police for Criminal Investigation Division at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a statement signed by the deputy commissioner.
The killing, two days before Thabane’s inauguration, was initially blamed on unidentified gunmen. But this month details emerged that implicate Thabane and Maesiah, his third wife, in court documents filed by Lesotho’s police commissioner as he successfully fought his sudden suspension by Thabane. One is a letter linking Thabane’s phone to the scene of the crime.
Communications Minister Thesele Maseribane, the government spokesman, has also been summoned for questioning, according to a statement by the Basotho National Party, which is led by Maseribane.
(Updates with background)
To contact the reporter on this story: Mathabiso Ralengau in Johannesburg at mralengau@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pauline Bax at pbax@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Hilton Shone
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