Mozambique

Military personnel picked up journalist Amade Abubacar in Macomia, a town in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. He is accused of colluding with militants that have sown terror in the northern Mozambican region.

Mozambican journalist Amade Abubacar was arrested by police and is being held at a military prison in Cabo Delgado allegedly for his coverage of Islamist insurgencies in the area.

Mozambican journalist and political analyst Ericino de Salema was abducted earlier this month and found unconscious several hours later after being assaulted and tortured.

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed to learn that Paulo Machava, the well-known editor of the online Diario de Noticias newspaper, was gunned down on a Maputo street today against a backdrop of tension for media personnel in Mozambique.

Over the past few weeks, Cistac had been the subject of verbal abuse by commentators aligned with the ruling party for his vocal support of opposition party Renamo’s demand for the creation of autonomous regions in Mozambique.

Mozambique’s access to information bill seeks to create greater transparency and generate public participation. However, it has also been the subject of some criticism with respect to whether it adequately enforces the right in all its dimensions.

If passed, Mozambique will become the fourth country in southern Africa to adopt an access to information law.

The coordinator of Furancungo Plateau Community Radio says his station was shut down over its outspoken reporting on life in the Mozambican district where it is based.

Falume Chabane was sentenced to a 16-month suspended prison term and ordered to pay damages after reporting on a dispute between a private school and the family of a disabled student.

Victor Muvale was threatened after he wrote an article about a police assault on a young man who had been caught for failing to carry his identity card.

MISA spent over three years in lengthy consultations, drafting a bill to establish the necessary procedures so that the right of the public to information becomes a reality.

The threats follow the publication of an editorial written by Salomao Moyana in which he criticised the “political inconsistency” of Renamo party leader Afonso Dhlakama.

Reporters who went to the former rebel movement leader’s home to inquire about his health were forcefully turned away by his bodyguards.

Journalist Alfane Momade Antonio was attacked by supporters of Renamo, the country’s main opposition party.

RSF is relieved to learn that Anibal Dos Santos Junior, the fugitive killer of journalist Carlos Cardoso, has been recaptured in South Africa.

The Criminal Investigation Police in the province of Cabo Delgado are demanding that a journalist reveal his sources for a story which angered local military officers.