(CJFE/IFEX) – The following is a 2 June 2004 CJFE media release: CJFE calls on Canadian government to return murderer of journalist to Mozambique. June 2 — Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) calls on the Canadian government to expedite the return of Mozambican criminal Anibal dos Santos Junior to prison in Mozambique. Dos Santos, […]
(CJFE/IFEX) – The following is a 2 June 2004 CJFE media release:
CJFE calls on Canadian government to return murderer of journalist to Mozambique.
June 2 — Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) calls on the Canadian government to expedite the return of Mozambican criminal Anibal dos Santos Junior to prison in Mozambique. Dos Santos, commonly known as Anibalzhino, entered Canada in May, and is reportedly being detained Canadian immigration officials, according to Mozambican police. Dos Santos is one of six men convicted of killing Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso. He received a twenty-eight year prison sentence for his part as the leader of the death-squad.
Carlos Cardoso, a prominent investigative reporter, was gunned down, execution-style, on November 22, 2000. There are several theories about the motives of the killers, including the belief that Cardoso was killed for his aggressive coverage of the country’s largest banking scandal, in which businessman Momade Assife Abdul Satar, his brother Ayob Abdul Satar and bank manager Vicente Ramaya are accused of siphoning US$14 million from the state-run Commercial Bank of Mozambique in 1996.
This is not the first time that dos Santos has escaped from prison in Mozambique. On September 1, 2002, two months before the start of the murder trial, dos Santos escaped from his cell at a maximum-security jail in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo. He was later recaptured in South Africa and extradited to Mozambique.
CJFE has called upon the Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to devote sufficient resources to ensure that the refugee claim is dealt with expeditiously if dos Santos is indeed applying for refugee status, as has been reported. Carlos Cardoso was a courageous journalist whose stories on corruption and shady government dealings tragically lead to his death. His killer, Anibal dos Santos Junior, has been brought to justice and it is imperative that the government of Canada plays its part in returning dos Santos to prison.
CJFE is an association of more than 300 journalists, editors, publishers, producers, students and others who work to promote and defend free expression and press freedom in Canada and around the world.
