Media vandalised in central Mozambique – Journalists speak of attempt to silence the press

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Media vandalised in central Mozambique – Journalists speak of attempt to silence the press

12:20 CAT | 02 Nov 2016

Lusa (File photo)

A newspaper and a radio station in Moatize, Tete province, central Mozambique, have been vandalised and have lost all their equipment, and another radio station suffered an attempted robbery in the same district, media sources told Lusa yesterday.

On Saturday, the weekly newspaper Malacha lost all its computer equipment, two digital recorders, a camera and the newspaper’s digital archive dating back to 2011, following the vandalisation of its facilities in Moatize district, Tete province.

“Right now the newspaper is using alternative means to publish its 254th edition this week,” Malacha editor Aparicio Jose, told Lusa, adding that a complaint had been filed with the police against unknown individuals.

The Monday edition failed to go out when the editorial team was forced to rewrite the entire content into an old design template.

At dawn on Wednesday, unknown vandals stole computer equipment, microphones, a professional recorder and console, a digital camera and a motorcycle from the drafting office of Cateme’s Community Radio, also in Moatize district.

“The presenter who was going to open broadcasting on Thursday found the gate open and building’s entrance closed with the guard tied up inside,” Daniel Bernardo, a journalist with the station said.

At dawn on Monday, a group of five men tried to break into the São João Baptista parish mission, also in Moatize and from where Radio Don Bosco broadcasts, but without success.

“During the night, five men were seen prowling the alley beside the Catholic church which gives access to the studios, but ran off when they realized that someone was watching them,” Micheque Dinga, a journalist from the station told Lusa.

Judging by the modus operandi, Dinga suspects that the group was the same on that looted robbed the other two media outlets, motivated by an “information material cleaning [plan] and an alleged plan to silence the voice of the people”.

The three media outlets are known for their impartiality and for dealing robustly with cases of corruption and the current political and military crisis. They all reported on the issue of Mozambican refugees in Malawi earlier this year, which local authorities denied.

“I think it’s a media hunt. It’s noticeable that there have been three robberies in less than a week,” Malacha’s Aparicio Jose said.

Police said they are investigating the case, without giving further details.

Source: Lusa