Maseru, Jun 11—- Captain Haleeo Makara, one of the members of the
army charged with the murder of their colleague Maaparankoe Mahao, who
is currently under cross-examination before the High Court, says he
had to protect the late Captain Tefo Hashatsi from Mahao who was
pointing him with a gun.
He testified that during an operation which was meant for an arrest of
Mahao on suspicion of mutiny, he shot at Mahao in order to disable him
as he was posing danger to the life of Hashatsi who was leading the
operation. He stated that he does not understand why he would make a
warning or take cover when Hashatsi had already fired a warning shot
against Mahao. He indicated that it was not possible for the
arresting team to take advantageous positions and wait for reaction
when they got to the scene, as suggested by the current Army Commander
Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela in his evidence.
The witness emphasised that shooting at Mahao was a last resort. He
pointed out that Immediate Action Drill (IAD) is applied to an enemy
adding that Mahao was not an enemy therefore it did not apply to him.
He said during rehearsals, they did not rehearse to shoot a person as
they did not expect that what happened to Mahao would occur…
SM/BM
