Mozambique: Water restrictions in Greater Maputo
A year after the murder of Franco-Mozambican constitutionalist Gilles Cistac on March 3, 2015, the Mozambican authorities have not arrested anyone in connection with the case, according to police spokesman Inacio Dina.
“There were people subpoenaed to testify, some because they witnessed the crime and others on suspicion of involvement, but they were all later released,” Dina said at the weekly PRM press briefing, adding that the investigation was ongoing and the lack of an arrest should not be taken as indicating that the case had been shelved.
“People should know that the police are following up leads in this case. When time passes without the results that people want to see, it does not mean the case has been forgotten,” said Dina.
Gilles Cistac, who had lived in Mozambique since 1993, was shot dead by unknown attackers outside a cafe in the centre of Maputo, triggering a wave of sympathy.
In later years, the lawyer was noted for advocating theories that were embarrassing for the party in power (Frelimo, the Mozambique Liberation Front), most recently suggesting that the Renamo demand for the creation of autonomous provinces was constitutionally sound.
Cistac triggered a legal and political storm when he said that Renamo’s demand for the establishment of autonomous regions in order to rule in the provinces where it won the general election of October 15, 2014, would have constitutional coverage if the movement were to replace the demand for “autonomous regions” by “autonomous provinces”.
According to Cistac, by providing for the possibility of creating municipal levels above the cities, the Mozambican constitution did in fact contemplate the possibility that provinces could have city status, coinciding with that of an autonomous province.
Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama is thought to have had this in mind when he first demanded the creation of autonomous provinces, abandoning the reference to regions.
In 2012, the Mozambican government declined to support Cistac’s candidature for the post of judge at the African Court of Human Rights which was supported by civil society, presenting instead an attorney-general who did not meet all the requirements for the job.
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