Silence reigns over the detention of Mozambican journalist Amade Abubacar

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Silence reigns over the detention of Mozambican journalist Amade Abubacar

2:52 CAT | 15 Feb 2019

So far, there is silence from the authorities

Amade Abubacar’s defence team is still waiting for a response to its second request for his provisional release, filed last week. The journalist has now been in detention in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, for more than a month.

For more than a week now, journalist Amade Abubacar’s defence team has been awaiting a response to its request for his provisional release on bail. This is the second request since the journalist was arrested on January 5 in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique, while photographing families fleeing attacks in the region. The first request was not answered in a timely manner.

Amade Abubacar is accused of violating national security and incitement to disobedience by means of computerised devices.

Speaking off the record, Jonas Wazir, president of the Cabo Delgado branch of the press freedom organisation MISA-Mozambique, says that this time however he expected a favourable response.

DW Africa tried to secure a comment about the progress of the case from the Provincial Court of Cabo Delgado, but was told that the court spokesman was not available.

Abubacar was writing for the newspaper ‘Carta de Moçambique’, which on Monday published on its website an article in which it makes public that, at the time of his arrest, The journalist was working as its correspondent in Macomia , writing about the armed attacks that have occurred in parts of Cabo Delgado.

“Countering a narrative from the official authorities, according to which Amade Abubacar was not working for any other newspaper on the day he was detained, what we did was to deny this, proving that he was working for ‘A Carta’,” newspaper director Marcelo Mosse explains.

*Marcelo Mosse: “We are willing to go to the final consequences/go all the way.”*

“We decided that it would be helpful to publish this information to show that any suspicion that he was not working for any other body is unfounded,” Mosse said.

Amade Abubacar signed his work at the ‘Carta de Moçambique’ under the pseudonym Saíde Abibo. With the journalist’s collaboration, ‘A Carta’ has become one of the main sources of information about the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, the newspaper said.

In an interview with DW Africa, Mosse said that the prosecution’s allegations against Abubacar were a misunderstanding, urging journalists not to stand by and watch instead of defending their colleague. He also said that ‘A Carta de Moçambique’ was willing to testify in favour of Abubacar in court. “He is our colleague and we are willing to go all the way, at least to prove that he was our correspondent,” Mosse says.

Amade Abubacar last month testified to the Mozambican Bar Association that he was tortured by military personnel after his arrest on January 5. Several human rights organisations have called for his immediate release. Abubacar has not seen his wife, children and brother since he was detained.

Source: Deutsche Welle