Matavel murder: “I only drove the car” – AIM report

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Matavel murder: “I only drove the car” – AIM report

10:02 CAT | 18 May 2020

Photo: Domingo

A second member of the death squad that murdered civil society and election observation activist Anastacio Matavel on 7 October last year, has denied all knowledge of the assassination plan, claiming that he was only the driver of the car used in the crime.

The death squad consisted of five people, all of them members of the Mozambican police. But only two of them, Euclidio Mapulasse and Edson Silica, are on trial. Two others, Nobrega Chauque and Martins Wiliamo, died in a traffic accident that occurred when the getaway car sped out of the city of Xai-Xai, away from the murder scene. The fifth assassin, Agapito Matavele, is on the run and believed to be in South Africa.

On the second day of the trial before the Gaza Provincial Court, sitting in Xai-Xai, Silica took much the same line as Mapulasse had done on Tuesday, admitting that he had been present at the crime, but did not commit murder because he did not fire the fatal shots.

Silica told the court that the initial plan had been “to assault the victim”, and only at the scene of the crime did he understand that his colleagues’ intention was to kill Matavel.

According to the report of the trial in Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, Silica said he was unaware of the plot to commit murder. He admitted that he had taken part but, since he was driving the car, he could not have fired any of the shots. He was, however, carrying a gun in his pocket.

He admitted to attending all the meetings of the death squad, but only as the driver. He put all the blame for the murder on the shoulders of Agapito Matavele and Nobrega Chauque – the former conveniently absent, and the latter dead.

“I took part, but I did not execute the plan”, claimed Silica. “From what I understood, the plan came from Agapito and Nobrega. At our meetings, in the bars, they would often sit apart, holding private conversations”.

The trial was to continue on Thursday.

Source: AIM