(MISA/IFEX) – On Monday 11 March 2002, the libel case pursued by businessman Nyimpinhe Chissano, son of Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, against journalist Marcelo Mosse and the now defunct newssheet “Metical”, was postponed. This is the fifth time that the case has been postponed. The case was to have been heard in the Maputo First […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On Monday 11 March 2002, the libel case pursued by businessman Nyimpinhe Chissano, son of Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, against journalist Marcelo Mosse and the now defunct newssheet “Metical”, was postponed. This is the fifth time that the case has been postponed.
The case was to have been heard in the Maputo First Urban District Court on Monday 11 March. However, 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, previously admitted the appeal by “Metical” lawyer Lucinda Cruz, but ruled that the appeal could only be heard after the trial. Since her appeal was on grounds of law, Cruz argued that it must be dealt with first. She therefore lodged a protest with the Maputo City Court, which gave its ruling on the afternoon of Friday 8 March.
Background Information
The libel case arises from articles published in early 2001, not only in “Metical”, but also in the weekly South African newspaper “Mail and Guardian” and the Portuguese weekly “Expresso”.
However, despite the fact that the main allegations never appeared in “Metical” but in other organs, the newspaper and Carlos Cardoso’s two children, the eldest of whom is just twelve years old, continue to face legal action. The two children have become liable for what was published in the newspaper and any libel damages would come out of the estate left to them by their murdered father.
On 27 December 2001, thirteen months after Cardoso’s murder on 22 November 2000, “Metical” closed down as a result of the defamation suit. The suit stems from allegations that Chissano Jr was in possession of cocaine at the time of his arrest by the South African police. Chissano Jr and his lawyer Antonio Balate vigorously denied the charge.
“Metical’s” only reference to the incident was an article which quoted the president’s press attaché as denying any involvement by the president’s office in paying bail to release Chissano Jr from a brief spell of detention in South Africa. This allegation, in fact, first surfaced in the “Mail and Guardian”, in an article under the by-line of a South African journalist. It was then repeated in
“Expresso”, in an article bearing Mosse’s by-line.
Chissano Jr has asked for libel damages of 1.8 billion meticais (approx. US$75,000).
Cruz and Mosse’s lawyer, Helder Matlaba, have pointed to a number of 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.
In fact, the public prosecutor has not said anything. This course of action is not permitted. 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 newspapers and can only be sued for what appeared within its own pages.
As for “Expresso”, a Portuguese lawyer sent a denial to the newspaper 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.
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). According to the definition of this crime, libel takes the form of indeterminate accusations, such as claims that the offended person is a criminal, a bandit, a scoundrel, and so forth. 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 underway against “Metical”, the smallest of the three newspapers that contained the offending articles.
In 2001, Chissano Jr announced his intention to sue the “Mail and Guardian”. However, foreign citizens who have no assets in South Africa must make a deposit to cover legal costs in cases such as this. In July, the “Mail and Guardian” demanded a deposit of 100,000 rands (approx. US$9,800) from Chissano Jr. Since then, the newspaper has not heard from him. However, it is still possible for the case to be pursued in the South African courts.
