Lawyer says Ndambi Guebuza believes he is a victim of political persecution

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Lawyer says Ndambi Guebuza believes he is a victim of political persecution

2:10 CAT | 19 Feb 2019

Photo: O País

Ndambi Guebuza’s defence lawyer Alexandre Chivale says that his client did not discuss procedural issues at his court hearing yesterday because, as far as he is concerned, the case is about political persecution dating back to 2015. Chivale also says that the son of the former Mozambican president fears for his safety.

The following interview with O País took place yesterday afternoon (February 18) shortly after the court interrogation.

What was the judge’s decision and what crimes is your client charged with?

The measure of coercion that has been applied to him is pre-trial detention. The judge reasoned how he reasoned, and that is not what is at stake. Maybe we can talk about Ndambi’s state of mind.

And how is he?

He did not discuss the procedural issue much because, as he understands it, his family has been subjected to persecution since 2015. Imagine: in this four-year period his sister was barbarously assassinated, and there were and there have been vexatious campaigns in the social networks against his family, and his father in particular. But more than that, last year there was an attempt to poison the entire Guebuza family with a dessert contaminated with organic phosphoric pesticide. All these factors lead Ndambi Guebuza to fear for his safety.

The request he asked me to convey is that, if the problem is political and has to do with (winning) elections, he asks that he be the last of the Guebuza family to be sacrificed for it. He said clearly that he fears for his life when a measure like this is applied, and the way things are being done, as if he were a fugitive.

And how did the Guebuza family respond to Ndambi’s arrest?

The family is calm. Naturally they respect the work of the organs of administration of justice. One may not agree, but that’s something else. But there is respect and we will react within what is allowed by the legislation and within the process.

Can you tell us if there will be another arrest warrant against another member of the Guebuza family?

I do not know anything, as you should know. The only thing we know is that, on Saturday, there was a writ of seizure [of assets goods or property]. He [Ndambi Guevuza] presented himself for the effecting of this seizure and at the end of the seizures he was presented an arrest warrant. If there is another warrant against someone in the Guebuza family, only the Attorney General’s Office can say. We have no knowledge of any.

By Emídio Beúla

Source: O País