MISA warns that the threat of sanctioning “media outlets that transmit information about Covid-19 contrary to official position” violates the Constitution of Mozambique

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MISA warns that the threat of sanctioning “media outlets that transmit information about Covid-19 contrary to official position” violates the Constitution of Mozambique

2:17 CAT | 08 Apr 2020

Picture: World Health Organisation

The Media Institute of Southern Africa, MISA/ Mozambique, while supporting efforts to combat the new pandemic coronavirus being undertaken by Mozambican authorities, has expressed concern that President Filipe Nyusi did not include among the list of services essential during the State of Emergency the work of the media and its professionals. It also says the Council of Ministers is violating the constitution by threatening to sanction “media that transmits information about Covid-19 contrary to the official position”.

“Although the list of essential services presented in article 7 of Presidential Decree number 11/2020, of March 30 is merely exemplary, we believe that it would have been an unmistakable sign of commitment to democracy and the Democratic Rule of Law if care had been taken to include, expressly, the work of the media and its professionals (journalists, photojournalists, cameramen, etc.) as an essential service. Introducing this to public communications can help to mitigate this situation,” MISA points out in a document published last Friday (06).

MISA Mozambique, an institution which promotes and defends freedom of expression and of the press, further finds it strange that “press crimes were not included in the range of urgent procedural measures, as can be seen in the reading of article 2 of Law number 1/2020 of March 31, when in fact they are. As the arbitrary arrest of journalists in our country is not uncommon, we call on the President of the Supreme Court to clarify this situation, through an instruction to the judicial courts of Mozambique”, and, for this reason, MISA has filed for “a precautionary measure before the Supreme Court”, requesting:

(a) the express declaration that the press and media are required as an essential service for the purposes of implementing the state of emergency; and the inclusion of press offences as urgent procedural acts, under the terms of article 2 of Law number 1/2020, of 31 March”.

MISA Mozambique considers that the statements by the Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs cannot be positively accepted under a democratic rule of law, when she stated that “Public and private media should reserve space on their programming grid to report on the Covid-19 pandemic, under the terms to be defined by the Information Office (GABINFO) ”.

The Southern African Social Communication Institute considers that “GABINFO has no jurisdiction over freedom of the press, even over that of public sector journalists, as is crystal clear in the rule of number 5 of article 48 of the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique. And, when it is intended to have it, this should be undertaken by means of the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique, since it is in this document that these fundamental rights are enshrined”.

Furthermore, MISA considers that saying that “any media transmitting information about Covid-19 contrary to the official version will be sanctioned”, on the one hand plainly violates the Constitution, and, on the other hand, places the whole community in a state of legal uncertainty and insecurity by mentioning abstract sanctions, “as if in a legalisation of arbitrariness, which is absolutely unacceptable”.

“While it is certain that the media and their professionals must perform their duties with responsibility, zeal and integrity, assuming the values of patriotism as part of their work, it is not for the Government, much less GABINFO, to dictate what to do, so we call on the Government to remove, from Decree number 12/2020, of 2 April, of all rules that are in flagrant non-compliance with the Constitution of the Republic, which has not been suspended, in particular numbers 4 and 5 of article 27”, MISA Mozambique concludes.

#Mozambique rules (see #5, article 27) that during the state of emergency the press must report only official information about #Covid_19. How can? @CPJAfrica @FreedomHouseAfr pic.twitter.com/e3m2tyWGL7

— Borges Nhamire (@borges_nhamire) April 6, 2020