Mozambique: Prosecutor’s Office closes investigation into journalist Ibraimo Mbaruco’s disappearance in Cabo Delgado

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Mozambique: Prosecutor’s Office closes investigation into journalist Ibraimo Mbaruco’s disappearance in Cabo Delgado

12:38 CAT | 09 Aug 2024

File photo: VOA

The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Cabo Delgado has closed the investigation into the unsolved disappearance of Palma Community Radio journalist and announcer Ibraimo Mbaruco, due to lack of evidence.

The decision comes almost five years after the journalist’s disappearance, with the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Cabo Delgado issuing a ruling regarding the suspension of investigations into the case.

“In accordance with the provisions of art. 307 and art. 323 number 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the magistrate of the Public Prosecutor’s Office considers the investigation closed and will issue the following ruling, in accordance with art. 324 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” the ruling reads.

The nine-page document describes almost all the steps taken by the Cabo Delgado Provincial Prosecutor’s Office since April 14, 2020, starting seven days after Ibraimo Mbaruco went missing.

“The National Criminal Investigation Service, Palma District Directorate (SERNIC), on June 15, 2020, requested information on the whereabouts of Ibraimo Abu Mbaruco from the Palma Advanced Command Post (PCA). The Criminal Investigation Section of the Prosecutor’s Office, on June 18, 2020, requested information from the mobile phone company Vodacom on FILES on June 24, 2020, requested the mobile phone company Movitel to obtain the IMEI of the card used by Ibraimo Maruco on June 30, 2020; the honorable Deputy Attorney General and Provincial Attorney of Cabo Delgado requested the Commander of the Northern Operational Command Post to track Ibraimo Maruco’s cell phones,” the document reads.

In addition to requests for general information about Ibraimo Maruco, the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Cabo Delgado interviewed witnesses including family members, work colleagues and friends of Mbaruco, but was even so able to find out practically nothing about the journalist’s disappearance.

The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Cabo Delgado concluded: “The whereabouts of journalist Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco are unknown; it has been proven that Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco, a journalist, is missing; the person responsible for the disappearance of journalist Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco has not been identified; the reasons for the disappearance of journalist Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco are unknown.”

The document also states that, “from the statements presented during the investigation of these proceedings, no one confirmed having seen military men taking journalist Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco to an unknown location; it was not proven that journalist Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco was kidnapped or abducted by military personnel; it was proven that journalist Ibraimo Abú Mabruco is still missing”.

The Code of Criminal Procedure establishes in art. 307, paragraph 1 and following paragraphs, that “the investigation comprises the set of steps aimed at investigating the existence of a crime, determining its perpetrators and their responsibility and discovering and collecting evidence, in order to decide on the indictment”.

Source: O País