VIENNA, Jan 22, 2008 (AFP) - The International Press Institute urged Lesotho to drop all charges against a local journalist arrested last year for allegedly making contact with violent government opponents, in a statement Tuesday.

Thabo Thakalekoala, a journalist at the private Harvest FM radio station in the capital Maseru, was arrested last June and charged with subversion after he read out on the air a letter said to have been written by members of the army denouncing Prime Minister Phakalita Mosisili as 'the unwanted ruler of Lesotho'.

'IPI believes that the arrest and prosecution of Thakalekoala are an overreaction to a situation where a journalist was merely reporting the controversial views and opinions of others,' IPI Director David Dadge said in the statement.

The media watchdog noted that Thakalekoala had refused to reveal the source of his letter and that the charges against him included defamation and high treason, which carries the death penalty.

'Journalists have a fundamental right to protect their sources and I would urge the government of Lesotho to recognise this right in the case of Thakalekoala,' Dadge said.

He also called on the international community 'to add their own voices to the call for all charges against Thakalekoala to be dropped immediately.'

Thakalekoala is to face trial in April.