Lawyers acting for the late John Kalafatis claim that the Botswana Defence Force and the Directorate of Intelligence Services members who were assigned to hunt him “were given strict instructions to kill John”.
John Kalafatis was eventually killed on 14 May 2009.
“Prior to his death, the search team had opportunities to arrest John in public, but chose not to do so because they wanted to kill him at a place of their choosing where shooting at and executing him would not present a danger to members of the public.”
The lawyer, Duma Boko, stops short of holding President Ian Khama complicit in John Kalafatis murder, and requested that he provide a statement explaining his relationship with Allan West and West’s authority to issue instructions directly to members of the DIS, BPS and BDF.
The lawyers say they will launch a private prosecution and civil action against Allan West, a businessman resident at Phakalane.
“Our investigations reveal that West is His Excellency’s long time family friend. Others facing private prosecution and civil action are Sergeant D. Mothobi No. 99982, Lance Corporal Boitshoko Maifala No. 190067, Lance Corporal R. M. Matako No. 193042 and Lance Corporal G. Sechele No. 192234.
“The basis of the action will be that all the above individuals, acting in concert and with malice afore thought, brought about the death of John and have consequently deprived his family of the comfort and society, and his dependents of his familial comfort care and emotional support as well as the financial support, which they were receiving and were entitled to receive from him.”
John Kalafatis’ execution followed an alleged burglary at West’s house on Christmas Eve of 2008. “Following the said burglary a contingent of the BDF was deployed at West’s residence at Phakalane, at taxpayers’ expense, for purposes of providing security for West and tracking the culprits. The Military Intelligence, relying on West’s description, and following consultation with him, concluded that John was one of the culprits. A massive and intensive search began for John. During the course of this search some members of the search team would receive instructions directly from West,” stated the letter from Kalafatis’ lawyers. “Pursuant to West’s instructions some of John’s associates were arrested and detained in order to try and elicit information from them regarding John’s whereabouts.”
The lawyers claim that Botswana Police Service is ‘actively engaged in efforts to thwart and frustrate any sound and proper gathering of evidence to mount a prosecution against the culprits. Such attempts at perverting the course of justice range from failure to apprehend the culprits, who are known, to releasing the motor vehicle in which John was killed to its owner before an independent ballistic examination has been carried out on the vehicle, contrary to standing procedures and an undertaking by the police’.
