Cabo Delgado attacks: Seventy defendants will be tried in absentia – Court spokesman

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Cabo Delgado attacks: Seventy defendants will be tried in absentia – Court spokesman

1:11 CAT | 04 Dec 2018

Court spokesman Zacarias Napatima. Photo: O País

Seventy defendants who had been granted temporary release while awaiting trial in the case of armed attacks in Cabo Delgado have failed to show up for court hearings and the Judge decided that they will be tried in absentia to avoid paralysing the trial.

The court hearings resume tomorrow, after a ten-day interruption due to absence of the Judge.

The information was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Judicial Court of the Province of Cabo Delgado, Zacarias Napatima.

Zacarias Napatima says that the Judicial Court of Cabo Delgado issued summons orders, but is not finding some defendants. “When it came time to call them to trial, the officers went to the places they indicated in the lawsuit as their residences, but they were not found. Where they went to no one knows. ”

However, despite the absence of the 70 defendants, the Judge of the case decided to proceed with the trial and these individuals will only be sought if sentenced for the crimes of which they are accused.

The Court has already heard 114 of the 189 defendants charged in case 32/2018, whose trial began on 3 October.

By Hizidine Achá

Source: O País