Africa-Press – Mozambique. Twenty-four hours after hurling “insults” and “clubbing” journalists, the commander of Nampula Municipal Police, António Oliveira Maneque, called the press to say that the actions witnessed last Tuesday afternoon was not voluntary and that it was all an “incident”, Carta de Moçambique reports.
According to Maneque, who was among the group of municipal police agents who psychologically and physically attacked four journalists from different media based in the municipality, the act did not constitute an attack on freedom of expression and of the press, and therefore there is no reason to hold those involved accountable.
“I cannot consider this as an attack on press freedom, because it was not a voluntary situation, but an incident,” Maneque said, adding that the three social activists supposedly detained were mainly responsible for the situation.
The four journalists were attacked when they went to Municipal Police headquarters to investigate rumours about the alleged detention of three young activists who had criticised the Municipal Police in a television programme.
With no “need” for criminal accountability, Oliveira Maneque, a senior officer of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) – he served as spokesman for the Provincial Command of the PRM in Nampula and as District Commander in Malema – said that the Municipal Police would only carry out an internal inquiry into who was involved.
The Provincial Nucleus of MISA-Mozambique in Nampula has however said that it will continue to investigate the matter.
