Public Prosecutor declares 2012 Bakhir Ayoob’s arrest and seize of property illegal, declines to charge

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Public Prosecutor declares 2012 Bakhir Ayoob’s arrest and seize of property illegal, declines to charge

11:48 CAT | 06 Jan 2017

The Maputo City Attorney’s Office has decided not to charge Mahomed Bakhir Ayoob with abduction, has admitted his arrest and seizure of property were illegal and ordered the closure of the case against him for lack of evidence.

Prosecutor Ana Sheila Marrengula acknowledges in the Public Prosecutor’s order of 2016 that the investigations carried out by the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC) did not produce any evidence against Ayoob, as a result of which the Ministry did not charge him.

The Maputo City Attorney’s abstention order follows another, of the Attorney General of Mozambique, in response to a statement by Ayoob’s lawyer that his client was the victim of “serious and unfounded charges of being a criminal” by the police, reported in the press in February 2013.

After analysis, Attorney General Beatriz Buchili concluded that there was no case for charging Mohamed Bakhir Ayoob with abduction, concluded that the period of preparatory instruction had expired and ordered the Maputo City Attorney General to close the investigation within 15 days.

Ayoob was arrested at his home on 21 September 2012 in pursuance of a search and seizure warrant dated 14 July of the same year, and filed a complaint after nine days without contact with his family or lawyer and without his arrest being legalized. In response, he was subjected to his first and only interrogation, with criminal investigating judge Helena Kida restoring his freedom, subject to verification of identity and residence, for lack of sufficient evidence to justify pre-trial detention.

In addition to the absence of any charge against Ayoob, the Prosecutor General says in her order that the actions carried out were based on unreliable information and evidenced the lack of any proper research. She criticizes the public prosecutor for not intervening as the entity directing preparatory proceedings, even after the complaint of Bakhir Ayoob’s lawyer. The Attorney General comes to the conclusion that Ayoob’s arrest and imprisonment, as well as the searches of his residence and seizures of property, were beyond doubt illegal.

Source: O País