Higher Council of Communication and NGO condemn assault on journalists in Maputo

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Higher Council of Communication and NGO condemn assault on journalists in Maputo

12:06 CAT | 07 Jul 2017

Magazine Independente

The Mozambican Higher Council for Social Communication and MISA, a non-governmental organisation that defends freedom of the press, yesterday condemned assaults on two journalists by Maputo provincial government security guards.

Abanês Ndanda and António Nhangumbe of the weekly magazine Independente were approached while photographing the facade of the provincial government building on Tuesday, under the pretext of authorisation being required.

On their refusing to delete the photos, they were detained for about three hours and had some of their material confiscated by force and some destroyed.

The Higher Council of Social Communication of Mozambique yesterday issued a statement expressing its “unequivocal repudiation” of “such acts, which translate into an attack on freedom of the press”.

“No law says that photographing a public facility of a civic character such as the provincial government of Maputo building is prohibited,” it adds.

According to the Council, this is the second time this year that journalists have been “abruptly and illegally” interrogated and prevented from doing their jobs by public security officers.

MISA Moçambique says that “besides constituting violations of press freedom, retaining journalists and their equipment and erasing images, threatening them and attacking them, constitute crimes”.

The organisation and Independent Magazine “reserve the right to initiate judicial mechanisms to hold the perpetrators criminally accountable”.

Source: Lusa