Prime minister visits injured journalist Ericino de Salema

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Prime minister visits injured journalist Ericino de Salema

7:32 CAT | 29 Mar 2018

TVM / “I came here to see our friend and companion, the journalist Ericino”, said Rosario. “I came here to express my solidarity with him and to present the solidarity of the President of the Republic (Filipe Nyusi)”.

Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario on Thursday visited in hospital Ericino de Salema, the lawyer and journalist who was kidnapped and brutally beaten in Maputo on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at the end of his visit, Rosario declared “We condemn what happened. We strongly condemn any attack against the physical integrity of people, and particularly against journalists”.

He added that the government wants the police to chase down “the moral and material authors of this crime, so that they may be punished in an exemplary fashion”.

Unabridged: Mozambique journalist abducted, assaulted – CPJ

Amnesty International warns of ‘culture of fear’ in Mozambique

“I came here to see our friend and companion, the journalist Ericino”, said Rosario. “I came here to express my solidarity with him and to present the solidarity of the President of the Republic (Filipe Nyusi)”.

“I hope that soon Ericino will return to his family”, added the Prime Minister. “I was told that he is improving, and this recovery means that tomorrow he can undergo surgery, I hope that all goes well with the operation”.

Ericino de Salema, a journalist from #Mozambique, told his wife that the gunmen received instructions on what to do with him via cellphone. https://t.co/MxEp6c3PMN

— CPJ (@pressfreedom) March 28, 2018

Salema was kidnapped at about 13.50 on Tuesday outside the headquarters of the National Union of Journalists (SNJ), on 24th July Avenue, in the heart of Maputo. His unknown assailants, using a Toyota Camry with darkened windows and no number plates, drove him across the city and onto the Maputo Ring Road.

At Muntanhane, in Marracuene district, they threw him out of the car, and beat him savagely with their AK-47 rifles. He was left bloodied and barely conscious at the side of the road. Local residents found him, and took him to the Maputo Private Hospital.

Salema was one of the regular guests on the chat show “Pontos de Vista” (Points of View) broadcast on Sunday nights by the independent television station STV. His contributions were outspoken and frequently critical of government policy.

There has been a wave of anger and revulsion against the attack, in Mozambique and abroad. The Amnesty International researcher for southern Africa, David Matsinhe, who was heading a delegation of this human rights body to Mozambique, said “we are talking about the right to free expression. People must feel able to speak without fear. And it’s the government’s responsibility to guarantee this right”.

Our reaction to attacks on a Mozambican journalist in Maputo @hrw @UKinMozambique @CanHCMozambique @zenaidamz pic.twitter.com/ygSxaoRkx6

— Dewa Mavhinga (@dewamavhinga) March 28, 2018

Salema is also a member of the Mozambican Bar Association (OAM), and on Wednesday the Association’s chairperson, Flavio Menete, said he could not rule out a connection between the attack and the political positions taken by Salema on “Pontos de Vista”.

The OAM, he said, expects the authorities “to undertake a profound investigation to identify those who committed and ordered this crime”. He thought this work might be made easier in that before the attack, Salema had received threats, and it might be possible to trace these.

“We cannot tolerate situations in which they try to silence voices who are struggling to improve the country”, declared Menete.

The Emergency Committee for the Protection of Freedoms (CEPL), of which Salema is a founding member, declared that speeches condemning the attack are not enough. “From the government we demand actions to neutralise the criminals and hold them responsible”, said a CEPL statement.

The CEPL pointed out that this was just the latest in a series of attacks and murders over the last few years, and in none of these cases has anyone been arrested.

“As journalists and citizens of this country, we shall not remain silent and we shall not tire as long as freedom of expression and of the press are not effective in our country”, the CEPL said. “That means, not only that people are free to express their ideas, but also that they do not suffer ill-treatment because of their opinions”.