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MISA criticises removal of two journalists from government-led visit to Gorongosa’
11:48 CAT | 07 Jul 2017
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The press freedom NGO MISA Mozambique yesterday issued a statement regretting the exclusion of two journalists from a visit organised by the Ministry of Defence relating to the military situation in the centre of the country.
“The decision to exclude two private press journalists not only poses an indirect threat to those targeted and other private media, but also calls into question the transparency and seriousness of the process of verification of the withdrawal of the armed forces at the positions subject to this visit,” the statement MISA reads
The correspondents from Lusa News Agency and weekly Savana, André Catueira (also deputy chairman of MISA Mozambique), and from weekly Zambeze, Benedito Cobrissua, initially joined the group departing from Maputo, the NGO reports.
On Wednesday morning, the journalists left the Manica provincial capital, Chimoio, for Gorongosa.
A little later, the Ministry of Defence press attaché accompanying them “asked who in the group of journalists was a member of MISA, to which Catueira replied that he was”.
The attaché said the two journalists were barred from continuing with the entourage, owing to “orders from above”.
“To the journalists’ insistence on understanding the reason for the ban, the press attaché eventually specified that Lusa and Zambeze were not to be part of the group, but without clarifying the real reason for the decision,” the statement adds.
Lusa’s own journalist on the spot tried to get more clarification from another military leader, but without success.
“The exclusion of these bodies could undermine the credibility of information on the withdrawal or not of government forces from the positions agreed between the president and the Renamo leader,” the MISA statement says.
The NGO also believes that the decision “constitutes a serious violation of freedom of the press and the right to information” and calls for “the immediate and unconditional reintegration of journalists from both bodies” in the group.
MISA also asks the Ministry of Defence to “identify the authors of the decision and hold them accountable for legal violations”.
Source: Lusa
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