MISA demands release of journalist held by military- AIM Report

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MISA demands release of journalist held by military- AIM Report

1:52 CAT | 16 Jan 2019

in file CoM

The Mozambican chapter of the regional press freedom body MISA (Media Institute of Southern Africa) has once again demanded the immediate release of journalist Amade Abubacar, who has been held illegally by the military since 5 January.

Abubacar, who works for the Nacedje community radio in Macomia district in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, was photographing people fleeing from terrorist attacks in the interior of the district when he was snatched and driven 90 kilometres into Mueda district, where he has since been incarcerated in a military barracks with no access to his family or to a lawyer.

In its latest release on this case, MISA stressed that it is illegal to detain civilians in military establishments. Furthermore, the detention of Abubacar “violates fundamental principles enshrined in the Mozambican Constitution, in the international conventions to which Mozambique is a signatory, and in the laws on freedom of expression and freedom of the press”.

MISA noted that Abubacar was detained while working as a journalist “and there is no indication that he had committed any crime”.

But, if there was any evidence of a crime, he should have been delivered to the police, who would then have turned the matter over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to lay formal charges. During this procedure, Abubacar would have had the right to a defence lawyer.

Instead, he has been detained in a military barracks without charge. MISA points out that Mozambican legislation stipulates that an accused person must be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours to validate the detention, a deadline which has been vastly exceeded in Abubacar’s case.

MISA thus demands that Abubacar be released immediately “and that all his rights be restored in the light of the Mozambican constitution”.

Source: AIM