TRIAL OF JOURNALIST
MARCELO MOSSE
AND CHILDREN
OF CARLOS CARDOSO
POSTPONED AGAIN
AIM articles reposted with
a brief summary by Joseph Hanlon
([log in to unmask])
11 March 2002
The libel case pursued by businessman Nyimpinhe Chissano, son of
Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, has been postponed to allow higher
courts to rule on procedural errors. The case is against journalist
Marcelo Mosse and the young children of the assassinated editor Carlos
Cardoso as owners of the now closed faxed newspaper "Metical". The case is
a criminal action for "affront", a form of defamation, and was due to be
heard today, Monday 11 March.
Over the past two weeks, nearly 500 people have signed an open letter
(petition) on the case to the Mozambican Attorney General (Procurador
Geral da República). The petition was organised by campaigners in
Mozambique. (The petition is on http://www.imprensa.tropical.co.mz)
Also in this package are articles on the Attorney General's report to
parliament, in which he pointed to incompetence, corruption and abuse of
power at all levels of the administration of justice - police, attorneys,
judges, lawyers and prisons. He said the murder last year of Antonio
Siba-Siba Macuacua, interim chairman of the crisis-ridden Austral Bank,
remains unsolved, in part because Mozambican police investigators demanded
additional payments.
As for the murder on 22 November 2000 of Carlos Cardoso, the Attorney
General had nothing new to report. Six people have been charged with the
murder and are currently in the Maputo maximum security prison. But their
lawyers have appealed against the case going to trial, and, although the
appeal was lodged in September, the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on it.
The Attorney General also admitted that there is still no trial in sight
in the $14 million 1996 bank fraud, which may be linked to the murder of
Carlos Cardoso. (JH)
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42302E NYIMPINHE CHISSANO LIBEL CASE POSTPONED YET AGAIN
Maputo, 11 Mar (AIM) - For the fifth time, the libel case pursued
by businessman Nyimpinhe Chissano, son of Mozambican president
Joaquim Chissano, against journalist Marcelo Mosse and the now
defunct newsheet "Metical", has been postponed.
The case was to have been heard in the Maputo First Urban
District Court on Monday, but the judge announced that a protest
lodged by the defence with a higher court, the Maputo City Court,
has been successful.
This means that, before the libel case can be heard in the
lower court, the higher court must decide on a series of
irregularities alleged by the defence, which could render the
whole case null and void.
The urban district judge, Wilson Djambo, had admitted the
appeal by "Metical" lawyer Lucinda Cruz - but had ruled that the
appeal could only be heard after the trial.
But since her appeal was on grounds of law, Cruz argued that
it must be dealt with first, and so she lodged a protest with the
City Court, which gave its ruling on Friday afternoon.
The libel case arises out of articles published in early
2001, not only in "Metical", but also in the weekly South African
paper, the "Mail and Guardian", and the Portuguese weekly
"Expresso".
The most serious allegation, that Chissano Jr was arrested
by the South African police in possession of cocaine, a charge
vigorously denied by Chissano and his lawyer Antonio Balate,
never appeared in "Metical".
This allegation first surfaced in the "Mail and Guardian",
in an article under the byline of a South African journalist. It
was then repeated in "Expresso", in an article bearing Mosse's
byline.
Chissano Jr has asked for libel damages of 1.8 billion
meticais (about 75,000 US dollars at current exchange rates).
"Metical" was owned and edited by the country's best-known
journalist, Carlos Cardoso, who was murdered in November 2000.
Ownership of the paper then passed into the hands of his two
young children, Ibo (now aged 12), and Milena (aged six).
They became liable for what was published in the paper, and
any libel damages would come out of the estate left to them by
their murdered father.
Lucinda Cruz and Mosse's lawyer, Helder Matlaba, have
pointed to three major procedural irregularities in the case.
First, they say that the charge sheet drawn up by Balate was
delivered a day late - and, since Mozambican law is strict about
time limits, this alone should have been enough for the case to
be thrown out.
Second, since Mosse is facing a criminal charge, a private
prosecution is not sufficient. The public prosecutor's office
must also be involved - the public prosecutor may support the
private charge sheet, may press different charges, or may give
the opinion that no crime has been committed.
But in fact the public prosecutor has said nothing at all -
a course of action which is not allowed.
The most serious irregularity is the attempt to hold
"Metical" responsible for articles published in South Africa and
Portugal. The defence argues that "Metical" has no editorial
control over what appears in other papers, and can only be sued
for what appeared within its own pages.
Under Mozambican law, there are two forms of libel. One is
"difamacao" (defamation), which deals with specific accusations
said to be untrue. However, Chissano Jr and his lawyer have not
opted to use this.
Instead Mosse and "Metical" have been charged with the
much vaguer crime of "injuria" (affront): in this crime, the
libel takes the form of indeterminate accusations, such as claims
that the offended person is a criminal, a bandit, a scoundrel
and so on.
The key difference is that in defamation cases the accused
can opt for the defence that what he wrote is true. But in cases
of affront, there is no possibility of such a defence.
Active legal proceedings are only under way against
"Metical", the smallest of the three papers that contained the
offending articles.
Last year, Nyimpinhe Chissano did announce his intention to
sue the "Mail and Guardian". But foreign citizens who have no
assets in South Africa must make a deposit to cover legal costs
in cases such as this. So in July 2001, the "Mail and Guardian"
demanded a deposit of 100,000 rands (about 9,800 US dollars) from
Chissano Jr. Since then the paper has heard no more from him. It
is, however, still possible for the case to be pursued in the
South African courts.
As for "Expresso", a Portuguese lawyer sent a denial to the
paper which was published in full under the Portuguese right of
reply legislation. "Expresso" has not been dragged before any
Portuguese court, though that possibility does remain open.
No date has yet been fixed for the Maputo City Court to hear
the appeal against the procedural irregularities in the
prosecution case.
(AIM)
pf/ (792)
Excerpts from
18302E ATTORNEY-GENERAL PAINTS SOMBRE PICTURE OF JUSTICE SYSTEM
Maputo, 6 Mar (AIM) - Mozambique's Attorney-General, Joaquim
Madeira, on Wednesday painted a sombre picture of the country's
legal system, pointing out "flagrant facts that lead to lack of
credibility, distrust and even contempt for Mozambican justice".
Giving his annual report to the country's parliament, the
Assembly of the Republic, Madeira pointed to incompetence,
corruption and abuse of power at all levels of the administration
of justice - police, attorneys, judges, lawyers and prisons.
Work done by the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC) was
often of such poor quality, that the public prosector's office
had to carry out supplementary inquiries of its own before it
could draw up a proper charge sheet against suspects.
Much worse was corruption within PIC. "Cases concerned with
theft from the state, from banks, and from other private bodies
do not advance", said Madeira. "The papers disappear, and nobody
knows about them because they're been shelved, hidden or even
destroyed".
His office had received from the Bank of Mozambique a list
of such cases that were supposedly with the Maputo City PIC.
Months ago, Madeira's office had asked PIC for these cases "but
so far we've had no reply".
Madeira argued that the only way to deal with serious
anomalies within PIC is to take it out of the Ministry of the
Interior, and put it under the direct control of the Attorney-
General's Office.
As for Attorneys, Madeira said he continued to be surprised
by those who failed to press charges against suspects, when there
was more than enough evidence to haul them before court. Such
tolerance smelt of corruption, he noted. …
Excerpts from
21302E SIBA-SIBA MURDER STILL UNSOLVED
Maputo, 6 Mar (AIM) - The murder last year of Antonio Siba-Siba
Macuacua, interim chairman of the crisis-ridden Austral Bank,
remains unsolved, in part because Mozambican police investigators
demanded additional payment for the case.
This revelation was made on Wednesday, in the annual report
given by Attorney-General Joaquim Madeira to the country's
parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.
Unknown assailants killed Siba-Siba in his office at the
bank's Maputo headquarters, and threw his body down the
stairwell, on 11 August. The murder came shortly after Siba-Siba
had a list of names of over 1,200 Austral debtors published in
the country's main daily paper "Noticias".
"Under normal conditions this case should have been cleared
up by now", said Madeira. "But it has suffered vicissitudes which
strangely delayed it, and have led to the replacement of some
investigators. They were making impossible demands on the state
as a condition for continuing the investigation".
Nonetheless, about 50 people had made statements, and more
than 20 had been questioned, said Madeira. He did not reveal
whether these included members of the previous management of the
bank which had led it to ruin.
Nobody had yet been arrested in connection with the murder,
Madeira added, and his office was still awaiting results from a
South African forensic report into evidence collected at the
scene of the crime.
As for the murder on 22 November 2000 of the country's best
known journalist, Carlos Cardoso, Madeira had nothing new to
report.
Six people have been charged with the murder and are
currently in the Maputo maximum security prison. But their
lawyers have appealed against the case going to trial, and,
although the appeal was lodged in September, the Supreme Court
has not yet ruled on it.
A third shocking murder was that of popular musician Pedro
Langa, killed in his home on 20 November. Madeira said that a
suspect has been arrested, and investigations are continuing.
Madeira admitted that there is still no trial in sight in
the case of the huge bank fraud of 1996, in which 144 billion
meticais (14 million US dollars at the exchange rate of the time)
was siphoned out of the Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM) on
the eve of its privatisation.
The accused in this case are a former BCM branch manager,
Vicente Ramaya, and members of the notorious Abdul Satar business
family. It is widely believed that the motive for the murder of
Carlos Cardoso was his tenacious investigation of the BCM fraud.
So much money was involved in this fraud, that the criminals
had little difficulty in bribing police investigators and
attorneys. A warrant was issued last year for the arrest of the
key attorney, Diamantino dos Santos, accused of hiding evidence
and deliberately disorganising the enormous case file. He fled
the country and is believed to be in South Africa.
"We can say that this case exposed the vulnerability of the
legal system, from the police through the public prosecutor's
office, and even up to judges", said Madeira.
Madeira said his office "has exercised great pressure to
move the case forward. But this is not happening".
Although the investigation was now closed, the investigating
magistrate had not yet issued his dispatch, which should state
whether or not there is enough evidence for the case to go to
trial. …
Excerpts from
26302E MOZAMBICAN PUBLIC NOT COMPLICIT IN CRIME
Maputo, 7 Mar (AIM) - The Mozambican public are not complicit
with crime, but victims of it, declared Teodato Hunguana, a
leading parliamentary deputy in the ruling Frelimo Party on
Thursday.
Speaking in the country's parliament, the Assembly of the
Republic, he sharply disagreed with the claim made by Attorney-
General Joaquim Madeira on Wednesday that Mozambican society
"passively connives" at violent crime.
Madeira had noted the frequency with which citizens are
mugged in broad daylight, women have jewellery ripped from them,
or mobile phones are stolen, and nobody else in the vicinity
lifts a finger to stop the crime.
Hunguana politely told Madeira to stop blaming the victims.
The real problem was that the institutions of justice were not
working properly.
"As a result of the inadequacies shown by those directly
involved in the fight against crimes (the Interior Ministry, the
Justice Ministry, the courts and the attorneys) crime is growing
in front of the apparent impotence of those who should put an end
to it", said Hunguana.
Under these conditions society felt abandoned, he added. And
when people tried to deal with criminals their own way "you come
down on them and say it's a crime to take the law into your own
hands. But those who should apply the law, don't".
So if people shrugged their shoulders, and did not intervene
to stop crimes, it was because they felt defenseless. "This isn't
connivance", said Hunguana. "It's despair and powerlessness. So
we can't accuse the public, the victims of crime, of conniving
with crime. The connivance is elsewhere".
Hunguana praised Madeira for opening his office to the
public, and encouraging all citizens and institutions to denounce
crimes. …
ANTI-CORRUPTION UNIT BEING CREATED
Mozambican television (Televisão de Moçambique 06/04/02) reported that the
Attorney General (o Procurador Geral da República - PRG) has announced the
creation of a special anti-corruption unit, with people who are being
specially trained in Botswana.
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FIM ENDS
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