(MISA/IFEX) – On 28 March 2005, the Maputo City Court’s eighth section, in an unprecedented move, decided to bar the media from covering a libel case involving one of six men sentenced to long prison terms in January 2003 for the murder of Mozambique’s foremost investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso. The case is of great public […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 28 March 2005, the Maputo City Court’s eighth section, in an unprecedented move, decided to bar the media from covering a libel case involving one of six men sentenced to long prison terms in January 2003 for the murder of Mozambique’s foremost investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso.
The case is of great public interest since it pits Attorney General Joaquim Madeira against Momad Assife Abdul Satar (also known as “Nini”). Madeira has alleged that Satar libelled him in open letters published in the weekly “Demos”.
On 28 March, journalists were told that the judge presiding over the case had decided that the trial would be held “behind closed doors”, and said “it is secret.” The ban not only affected journalists, but also the public at large. Only those who were directly involved in the trial were allowed into the courtroom.
None of the court officials approached by journalists could explain the legal basis for the secrecy of the trial. In principle, trials are public matters in Mozambique. Judges can close courts to the public in sensitive cases, such as those involving rape, in order to protect the victim.
Madeira claims that Satar made untruthful allegations regarding the attorney general’s role in the Cardoso murder case. One of the accused is businessman Nyimpine Chissano, the oldest son of former president Joaquim Chissano.
Satar claims that Nyimpine Chissano paid to have Cardoso murdered. Although Satar admitted to having paid the equivalent of US$46,000 to Anibal dos Santos Junior (also known as “Anibalzinho”), the man who organised the death squad that carried out the assassination, he claims that the money was actually a loan to Nyimpine Chissano. Chissano has vigorously denied this allegation.
Prosecutors have been investigating the allegations against Nyimpine Chissano since late 2002. Satar is accused of having defamed Attorney General Madeira by alleging that Madeira was obstructing the case and therefore protecting Nyimpine Chissano.
Madeira’s office has denied this claim, pointing out that the case is not in the attorney general’s hands but is being dealt with by a Maputo City prosecutor.
