MAJOR General Poqa Motoa of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) who is testifying in the trial in which nine soldiers are accused of the murder of former army chief, Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao says he was part of a band of soldiers who were tortured in 2015 before their court-marshal two years later.

Motoa told the High Court on Thursday how his colleagues apprehended and detained them at the Maseru Maximum Prison.

He said they were all accused of contravening provisions of the Lesotho Defence Force Act, mutiny, violence and plot to kill members of the army who supported the then commander, Lt Gen Tlali Kamoli when he refused to step down.
He said the President of the Court Marshal at that time was the current Commander, Lt Gen Mojalefa Letsoela of the LDF Liaeutenant Letsoela adding that the late Brigadier Bulane Sechele who was initially the prosecutor in the trial was later replaced by a white South Africa lawyer.
The case was eventually dismissed for lack of evidence and through the assistance of the Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) all the detained soldiers were released before they returned to work.