Mozambique: NGO asks to see the orders revoking promotion of police suspected of murder

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Mozambique: NGO asks to see the orders revoking promotion of police suspected of murder

11:06 CAT | 04 Feb 2020

Picture: Noticias Moz

Mozambican NGO asked the country’s police on Monday to show the orders in which it revoked promotions for policemen suspected of murdering an activist and election observer four months ago.

“The refusal to present the repeal orders raises doubts about their existence, which calls into question the institutional credibility of the Police Command,” a statement from the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) said.

The organisation recalled that the police reacted to the promotion of three agents involved in the assassination of Anastácio Mataval, stating that the promotion orders were revoked, but at the same time stated that the documents are internal information that cannot be shown.

“A fallacious argument,” the CDD said, which called for transparency in the case.

“Publicising the revocation orders is the only way that the General Command of Police has to prove that it has retreated in its decision to promote agents accused of committing a heinous crime”.

The orders promoting to higher-level Mozambican police officers accused of murder were revoked on the spot, the spokesman of the Republic of Mozambique Police (PRM) told Lusa Wednesday.

“It was a mistake which, as soon as it was detected, the promotions were revoked,” said Orlando Mudumane.

Asked by Lusa whether the revoking orders are available for consultation, Modumane said that they are institutional documents that cannot be displayed to the public.

“What matters is that the promotions have been repealed,” he said.

Orders signed by Bernardino Rafael and dated 27 December, show that Edson Silica was promoted to police sub-inspector and Agapito Matavele to sergeant.

Both were accused by the Gaza Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of participating in the assassination of Anastácio Matavel, a representative of the Sala da Paz, a coalition of NGOs linked to electoral observation in Mozambique.

Matavel was shot on 7 October in the street, in broad daylight, a week before the general elections.

In November, the Gaza Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in southern Mozambique charged eight defendants with the crime, including five police agents.

The murder of Anastácio Matavel provoked repudiation and condemnation in Mozambique and abroad for being a civil society activist involved in election observation who died during the election campaign in a province known for political intolerance against opponents of the ruling Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo).

Source: Lusa