Botswana: Academic Deported 'for Links w Survival'

SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE

17 June 2005

BOTSWANA: ACADEMIC DEPORTED 'FOR LINKS WITH SURVIVAL'

Botswana's President Mogae has said that he decided to deport Australian Professor Ken Good as a 'threat to national security' over his links with Survival International.

President Mogae described the international concern over the Professor's deportation as a 'big hullabaloo over the deportation of a single, solitary white man'.

The President has falsely alleged that Good and Survival's Director Stephen Corry have 'written numerous documents in which they described Botswana's diamonds as blood diamonds.'

Professor Good, who had worked at Botswana University for fifteen years before his deportation, had both his computers stolen in separate incidents within ten days of each other.

The Botswana newspaper Mmegi reported this week that Mr Mogae ended a recent press conference by 'volunteering information on a question nobody had asked, [and] denying that his operatives might have broken into Good's house and stolen his computer.'

In a statement today Professor Good said, 'I have never described Botswana's diamonds as 'blood diamonds', nor have I ever 'teamed up' with Survival International to sabotage Botswana's 'diamonds for development' campaign. I have certainly exchanged correspondence with Survival, as I have with a huge number of academics, journalists, and other NGOs. The only way Mr Mogae would know of my email correspondence is if the government had seen the contents of my computers.'

ENDS

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