Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Judicial Court of Sofala Province, central Mozambique, on Thursday sentenced seven defendants to 30 years in prison each, for the murder of six guards and theft between November, 2020, and May, 2021.
“If the law allowed for a higher sentence than this, we would not hesitate, taking into account the seriousness of the crimes committed by those convicted,” said Judge Martinho Machiguere, as reported today by the newspaper, ‘Notícias’.
The defendants convicted are Moisés Pedro, Alberto Mabulesa, Carlitos Seba, Filipe Tomás, Dinho Manuel, Sebastião Cambula and Alexandre Guiliche, a former PRM agent considered the group’s leader.
Judge Martinho Machiguere further sentenced the seven defendants to pay joint compensation in the amount of four million meticais (€56,000) to those injured and the victims’ families.
“The arbitrated compensation will be divided half in favour of the victims and half in favour of the victims’ families,” the judge explained.
The court found it proven that the defendants killed four security guards during a robbery at the residence of a Portuguese businessman in the city of Beira, capital of Sofala, on November 12, 2020, using axes, machetes, iron bars and a shotgun.
On November 26, 2020, the group killed a security guard and wounded another in a robbery at a Chinese citizens building block factory, also in Beira.
On May 23, 2021, the defendants killed a security guard during a robbery at a commercial establishment in Beira.
Four of the seven defendants confessed to their participation in the crimes during the preparatory investigation, implicating the three others convicted, the judge said.
During the reading of the sentence, the judge remarked that, after the arrest of the gang, the city of Beira had begun to experience some degree of tranquillity once more.
Eight other defendants in the case were acquitted.
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