Maseru-The officer who controlled Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) search team says the search exercise could not have been conducted after the escape of inmates.
Chief Officer Tololi Ratšele said this before the Commission of Inquiry on the escape of inmates, when pinpointing LCS recruits who led the search exercise at Maseru Central Correctional Institution (MCCI) on December 22 last year.
Chief Officer Ratšele said he learnt when he arrived at the Correctional Staff Training School (CSTS) that the recruits who conducted the search knew about the escape of inmates on December 21, 2023.
He said the recruits hence went to MCCI thinking other inmates took part towards the escape of the six inmates. “I heard after the search that it was reported to some recruits that some prisoners sang the night inmates escaped to enable such to happen” he said, highlighting that he could not have gone to MCCI to conduct a search if he knew about this.
Chief Officer Ratšele also acknowledged that the search was severe as per footage and could not say it was operative based on the manner in which it was conducted.
“From the search that I know, I have never seen inmates squat or held at the back being pushed as well as usage of the huge fighting sticks inmates were beaten with” he stated.
In the meantime Chief Officer Ratšele earlier showed that there were eleven instructors during the search and disclosed there was no supervision as per footage which featured the maximum block. The Commission is continuing to watch footage which features how the search exercise was led within MCCI blocks.
