NGO exposes illegal detention of two journalists in southern Mozambique

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NGO exposes illegal detention of two journalists in southern Mozambique

1:08 CAT | 16 Jun 2020

in file CoM

The Southern African Social Communication Institute (MISA-Mozambique) today exposed the illegal detention and confiscation of material by two journalists in the southern province of Inhambane.

Paulino Vilankulo and Yassin Vilankulo, from the online Vilankulo Television (VTV), were illegally detained when reporting on a road accident in Vilankulo, according to a note distributed by MISA today.

According to the press freedom watchdog, the two journalists were taken to the local provincial command, where they are said to have been “harassed and forced to delete all the images and recordings they had on the devices”.

“Journalists suspect that the police were already looking for an opportunity to stop them, given that that television station has never been welcome to the police since it started broadcasting,” the note adds.

According to the MISA, the PRM commander in Vilankulo, Carlos Nhaca, acknowledged the “mistake made”, but said that the journalists were not harassed.

“In view of the success, MISA Mozambique strongly condemns the behaviour of the PRM and calls on the police authorities to investigate and hold the perpetrators accountable for the mistreatment, confiscation and destruction of the journalistic material in question,” the organization says.

This is the second case of journalist arrested in the country this month.

On June 8, Arsénio Sebastião, a correspondent for Deutsche Welle (DW), and Jorge Malangaze, a freelance journalist, were arrested and accused by the Provincial Office for Combating Corruption of soliciting bribes in order not to publish a report related to the violation of state of emergency rules in a hotel in Sofala, central Mozambique.

The two Sofala journalists were released on June 10 after the local court found that they did not take any money and that there was no evidence of the alleged blackmail of the owner of the establishment, ruling party (Frelimo) deputy Manuel Ramissane.

Source: Lusa