Mozambique: Man arrested for insulting the President – O País

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Mozambique: Man arrested for insulting the President – O País

5:25 CAT | 15 Feb 2021

Photo: O País

He has meanwhile been released this Monday.

A 48-year-old man was detained by the National Criminal Investigation Service [SERNIC] in Maputo city on Friday for producing and sharing on social media a video containing insulting and defamatory words addressed to the President of the Republic, O País reports.

It happened. And, quickly, it got out of the control of the alleged video maker. It was at night, in a traffic jam in Maputo. An individual picks up his cell phone and starts filming. The idea was to show that the curfew would not be observed in a certain section of the country’s capital. Suddenly, at 9:12 p.m., according to the author of the video, an acquaintance of his appeared, who addressed some words to the President of the Republic, which cannot be repeated here.

After investigating the case, SERNIC in Maputo detained a 48-year-old Mozambican, who confessed to the acts attributed to him, SERNIC spokesperson Hilário Lole revealed in Maputo on Friday.

According to Lole, there is “sufficient evidence of moral and material authorship of the crime of offense against the honour of the President of the Republic” against the two individuals – the one who recorded and shared the video and the one yet to be located.

At the SERNIC press conference, the detainee confessed that he made and shared the video, but denied having insulted the president.

“I made the video,” he acknowledged. “A well-known individual showed up. I was in the traffic jam, he was the one who used swear words regarding the [highest] magistrate [of the nation].”

The detainee then said he was sorry and that he would not share the video again on WhatsApp.

“I apologise for the offense. This is an offense that I did to the head of state. I am apologising in front of the cameras for the video I made,” he said.

SERNIC noted that the two individuals are liable for sentences ranging from one to two years in prison.

By Jose dos Remédios

News of the detainee’s release just came out, this Monday.