Mozambique recorded 14 kidnapping cases in 2016

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Mozambique recorded 14 kidnapping cases in 2016

10:58 CAT | 20 Apr 2017

Lusa / Antóno Silva /(File photo) / Attorney General of the Republic of Mozambique, Beatriz Buchili, said 14 cases of kidnapping were registered last year. The crime remains a challenge for the State, although numbers are decreasing.

Attorney General of Mozambique Beatriz Buchili said Wednesday that the country recorded 14 abduction cases last year, noting that this type of crime remained a challenge for the state, although the number of cases was falling.

Presenting the Attorney General’s annual report, Beatriz Buchili stated that, last year, the Mozambican Public Prosecutor’s Office issued 15 indictments of abduction and one abstention order (a case filed without indictment).

One criminal case was still in the preparatory stage, she added.

Although still a challenge for the authorities, she continued, abduction cases were less numerous, with 14 in 2016 compared to a 2013 peak of 44, the highest number of cases since this type of offence began to occur in Mozambique in 2012.

Buchili cited Maputo city and province as the two geographical areas with the highest rate of kidnapping cases.

“In the city of Maputo, eminent situations of abduction of citizens were aborted, where the agents of the crime practiced all the acts of execution that should consummate the act,” the attorney general said.

Buchili underlined the need for greater cooperation between the National Institute of Communications of Mozambique, as a regulator, for compliance with the law that mandates the registration of all SIM cards.

“The practice shows that, in abduction crimes, mobile phones are the kidnappers’ favourite means of demanding ransom payments,” the report states.

Bank of Mozambique should also strengthen mechanisms to control currency, Buchii continued, since this type of crime involves large sums of money circulating outside the financial system.

Source: Lusa