LEADER of the Socialist Revolutionaries (SR), Teboho Mojapela has condemned the widespread killing of cops, urging the government to do everything in its power to protect the officers against the deadly criminals.

“The rate at which police officers are being killed is increasing at an alarming rate and the government must ensure the safety of all members of the security agencies because they are the backbone of this country. Whenever something bad happens, these are the first people to respond,” he told a press briefing in Maseru on Friday.

Mr Mojapela who is better known as ‘JP’ said no one has the right to kill another person, slamming the endless murders.

He said his party strongly condemned the police for killing suspects in the past, adding that they even asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to intervene before the murders stopped.

He said other attributes that promote the unwarranted killings include the light bail deposits and fines that suspects and convicts pay in the courts of law, appealing for tougher judgments when harsher crimes have been committed.

He further blamed the justice system for using foreign judges in the Appeal Court, saying that most of them come from jurisdictions which do not favour either capital punishment or life sentence.

“Our courts have serious backlogs because the government does not have enough resources to see open cases to their end. Even investigations take longer to be completed, which further delays the delivery of justice,” he said.

Apart from that, Mr Mojapela also took a shot at the parliament for awarding the controversial M5 000 tax free petrol allowances to its members, saying the timing is incorrect as most Basotho, especially the youth face unemployment, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said parliamentarians already earn a fortune, adding they as a result do not deserve such huge salaries.