Mozambique: 14 sentenced for rioting in Nacala – AIM report

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Mozambique: 14 sentenced for rioting in Nacala – AIM report

4:08 CAT | 14 Apr 2020

File photo: CCD-Moçambique

A court in the northern Mozambican city of Nacala has sentenced 14 people to prison terms of 15 days for their part in rioting in the city last Wednesday, reports Monday’s issue of the Maputo dally “Noticias”.

The rioting broke out when the local authorities tried to ban motor-cycle taxis. The ban was a joint decision of the Nacala district government and of the Nacala Port Municipal Council. It was in line with the ban on the use of bicycles or motorbikes as taxis announced the previous week by the central government, under the state of emergency. The justification for the ban was that the close proximity between the cyclist and his passenger facilitates transmission of the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

On Wednesday morning, the Nacala Municipal Police seized two motor-bikes and the motorbike taxi drivers reacted with protests, erecting barricades and blocking the main road through the city. Some of the rioters looted market stalls and shops.

The ban on bicycle-taxis and motorbike-taxis was highly unpopular, particularly in cities such as Quelimane and Nampula where many people had come to rely on them for transport.

So the government changed its mind and on Wednesday afternoon announced that the bicycle-taxis and motorbike-taxis would be allowed to continue their business, provided both the cyclist and his passenger wore face masks. That decision came too late to stop the arrests and trial.

The Nacala court immediately replaced the 15 day prison terms with fines, in order to prevent overcrowding in the jails, which would risk spreading the coronavirus. The government had already ordered the release of all prisoners serving sentences of less than a year, and it made little sense to throw more people into prison for a few days because of minor public order offences.

In Quelimane, the Municipal Council on Saturday distributed jackets, masks and gloves to 200 bicycle-taxi drivers. The mayor, Manuel de Araujo, said that protective equipment would be gradually distributed to all owners of bicycle-taxis (estimated at over 5,000) in the city.

Araujo, cited by the independent television station STV, said that those who did not receive masks on Saturday “should ensure that they have masks made of cloth, in order to protect themselves”.

Source: AIM