Mozambique: Four years on, and no resolution of albino kidnapping

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Mozambique: Four years on, and no resolution of albino kidnapping

1:38 CAT | 07 Jun 2018

DW / Pedro Francisco César still waiting for news about his brother's abduction

The family of an albino kidnapped four years ago are complaining of inertia on the part of the authorities regarding any resolution of the case. Police say the investigation is now in the hands of the public prosecution.

Augusto César, a Mozambican citizen suffering from albinism, was abducted more than four years ago, but to this day, his whereabouts and the identity of his kidnappers remain unknown. The young man’s family say police have promised to clarify the case, but there are still no results.

“It’s been four years since he disappeared, and we do not have any satisfactory information,” Augusto’s younger brother Pedro Francisco César says.

César, also an albino, adds that the family has cooperated with the authorities in the investigation, and has reported suspects who have never been investigated.

“The suspects are still at large; nothing is investigated, everything is at a standstill, and we are disappointed by how the authorities have behaved.”

But the family of the man kidnapped on December 17, 2014, still hopes to find out what happened.

Disgruntled activists

In an interview with DW Africa, Pedro Francisco César said that the hunting, abduction and murder of albino people was no longer a topic of conversation in the northern province of Nampula, but that albinos do not consider they have won the battle.

César is also a member of the “Amor à Vida” Association, an organisation that defends Mozambican albinos.

“I believe they have reduced [the hunting and abduction of albinos], but I do not say that it is over. You never know, maybe the people who do this are outlining new strategies about how and where to do it,” he says.

Mosambik Polizeistation in Nampula — *Police in Nampula say that Augusto César’s case is in the hands of the Prosecutor’s Office*

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Case in the hands of the Prosecutor’s Office

Meanwhile, the Mozambican police in Nampula say that the Augusto César case is no longer in their hands, but rather in those of the Attorney General’s Office.

“This case is no longer under the control of the police,” said Zacarias Nacute, a spokesman for the Provincial Police Command of the Republic of Mozambique in Nampula.

“The police are the first to deal with criminal cases. However, after the police have done their job, these cases are handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office, which moves on to ascertain the truthfulness and all other matters of the criminal suit,” Nacute explained

This is not the first time that the police, after saying that they are investigating a crime, refer it to other judicial bodies. The latest case concerns the murder of the former mayor of Nampula, Mahamudo Amurane, where the police said they had done everything in their power and that it was no longer their job to proceed with the clarification of the crime, because the case had been referred to higher authorities.

Source: Deutsche Welle