Court doubles hearings at Cabo Delgado trial of suspected attackers

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Court doubles hearings at Cabo Delgado trial of suspected attackers

1:38 CAT | 18 Oct 2018

File photo: VOA Portugues

The court in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, which is conducting the trial of a group of alleged insurgents, has doubled the number of weekly hearings from two to four in response to the volume of defendants in the case, an official source has told VOA.

According to a VOA report issued on October 15, since the beginning of the trial on October 3, four sessions had been held and, of the 189 defendants accused of having participated in the armed insurgency that paralysed the village of Mocímboa da Praia a year ago, 39 “had been tried”.

The court stopped hearings at the two detention centres [penitentiaries]where the parallel trial was taking place and has, since last week, focused on hearing 10 defendants a day in the main court house, said a spokesman.

“Because of the volume of defendants, two hearings a week have been added, and arrested as well as non-arrested defendants are being heard,” spokesman for the Provincial Judicial Court of Cabo Delgado Zacarias Napatima told VOA.

In all, 189 defendants are being tried, including 15 women, 29 Tanzanians and three Somalis.

According to the indictment, cited by VOA, the defendants allegedly murdered an unspecified number of civilians and soldiers, stole 37 AK47-type weapons and more than five thousand rounds of ammunition from the police station, destroyed assets and attacked state authority.

“The public is awaiting with great expectation, and on our side we are making a great effort to reach an outcome in the shortest possible time, although we recognise that the work is intense given the volume of defendants on trial,” Napatima said.

Lawyers interviewed by VOA maintain that, by focusing the trial on single sessions, the court can produce the evidence better and give the case a better outcome.

So far, the motivation for the insurgency in southern districts of Cabo Delgado is unknown.

Source: VOA Portugues