Kidnapped, assaulted Mozambican journalist to receive further treatment in South Africa

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Kidnapped, assaulted Mozambican journalist to receive further treatment in South Africa

1:29 CAT | 10 Apr 2018

O País (File photo)

The Mozambican journalist Ericino de Salema, who was abducted and assaulted in Maputo on March 27, will undergo further medical treatment in South Africa, a family source told Lusa on Monday.

Ericino de Salema was moved to South Africa on Thursday and will remain there for a minimum of 45 days recovering from the injuries he suffered and subsequent surgery.

“He’s going to start physiotherapy there, and will probably come back to Mozambique still not walking but capable of some movement,” the family member said.

Ericino de Salema was abducted at the door of the National Union of Journalists building in central Maputo and taken to the capital’s Ring Road where he was found by local residents with both legs and his left arm broken.

Although police say that they are still investigating the crime and that its motivation is unknown, civil society organisations associate the abduction and assault with violence perpetrated against figures critical of the government and the Mozambican Liberation Front.

At the time of his abduction, Salema was a commentator on “Pontos de Vista” [Points of View], a popular political comment programme broadcast by the private channel STV.

In 2016, political scientist José Macuane was shot in the same spot where Ericino de Salema was found, also after being abducted in central Maputo, at a time when he also was a commentator on the same programme.

In 2015, French-born Mozambican constitutional lawyer Gilles Cistac was fatally shot in the Mozambican capital a few days after arguing that the main opposition party’s demand for provincial councils was constitutional under the country’s basic law, contradicting the position of some Frelimo members.

None of these incidents have so far been explained or those responsible identified.

Source: Lusa