mozambique: First lady denies intimidating journalists

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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ALERT UPDATE - MOZAMBIQUE

4 November 2002

First lady denies intimidating journalists

SOURCE: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Windhoek

**Updates IFEX alerts of 8 October, 3 September and 22 May 2002, 20 July, 22
May, 15, 12 and 5 March, 22 February and 22 January 2001, 20 December, 28,
24 and 23 November 2000**

(MISA/IFEX) - First Lady Marcelina Chissano has denied intimidating any of
the country's journalists, and has demanded that her "good name and right to
privacy be respected."

A letter sent by her lawyer, Augusto Macedo Pinto, to the independent weekly
"Mediafax", and published on 1 November 2002, also stressed that the first
lady wanted to see the case of the murder of Carlos Cardoso, the newspaper's
founding editor, "resolved as rapidly as possible, and the guilty parties
tried and sentenced."

The letter, which made no explicit threat of legal action, was clearly in
response to claims made a month ago that the first lady had sent mysterious
gifts of live chickens to "Mediafax" editor Marcelo Mosse, Fernando Lima,
chairman of the board of Mediacoop (the company that owns the newspaper),
and Kok Nam, director of the Mediacoop weekly "Savana".

The delivery of the chickens followed "Mediafax"'s publication of articles
concerning "o filho do galo" ("the son of the cockerel"). The newspaper had
revealed that a new witness, named only as "Opa", had been heard by the
magistrate investigating the Cardoso murder. Opa had just been released from
Maputo's top security prison after serving half of a 10-year sentence for
illegal possession of firearms. While in jail, he had come to know Momade
Assife Abdul Satar (alias "Nini"), one of the businessmen accused of
ordering Cardoso's assassination. According to "Mediafax", Opa testified
that Nini had told him he was merely a go-between, acting on behalf of "o
filho do galo." The following day, an article by Lima, entitled "A chicken
called Nyimpine", identified "o filho do galo" as Nyimpine Chissano,
President Joaquim Chissano's son. Lima said that when asked the identity of
"o filho do galo", Opa had given Nyimpine Chissano's name, and the president
son's name had been entered in the minutes of the hearing.

The men who delivered the live chickens to the three journalists claimed
they were a gift from the first lady, and journalists believe they came from
a poultry farm owned by Marcelina Chissano in the city of Matola. However, a
spokesperson for the first lady's office denied any knowledge of the
chickens. "Mediafax" interpreted the delivery of the chickens as a peculiar
type of veiled threat.

Pinto's letter neither confirmed or denied that Marcelina Chissano had sent
the chickens. The letter insisted that "no journalist was, or ever will be,
intimidated or threatened." Pinto claimed that the first lady's "most
elementary individual rights [had] been violated," notably through "lack of
rigour and objectivity" in the press. "Facts are invented, rumours are used,
the privacy and intimate sphere of her family relations are invaded, with
the intent to create tension within her family, and seriously damage the
good image and reputation of all her relatives," Pinto claimed. The honour
and consideration due to the first lady "have been deeply and seriously
affected, with grave social repercussions," the letter continued, while
calling for an end to "public trials" in the pages of the press, and
stressing that "it is universally recognised that all citizens have the
right to honour, good name, reputation, the defence of their public image,
and to their privacy."

BACKGROUND:
Cardoso, a veteran independent journalist and editor of the daily fax
newspaper "Metical", was shot dead on 22 November 2000 as he left his
newspaper's offices in the Maputo suburb of Polana. After two vehicles cut
off Cardoso's car, two unidentified assassins opened fire with AK-47 assault
rifles, killing him instantly and seriously wounding his driver.

In 2000, Nymphine Chissano filed a criminal defamation suit against Mosse,
then editor of "Metical", having assumed the position after Cardoso's
murder. Facing mounting legal pressure, "Metical" ceased publication earlier
in 2002. Mosse subsequently became editor of "MediaFax".

The recent incident also came only weeks after one of the alleged gunmen in
the Cardoso killing escaped from prison in Maputo. Anibal Antonio dos Santos
Junior, known as Anibalzhino, escaped from prison in early September.

Shortly before Cardoso's death, "Metical" had been reporting aggressively on
alleged wrongdoing at the Mozambique Commercial Bank.

For further information, contact Zoe Titus or Kaitira Kandjii, Regional
Information Coordinator, MISA, Street Address: 21 Johann Albrecht Street,
Mailing Address; Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232975,
fax: +264 61 248016, e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected],
Internet: http://www.misa.org/

The information contained in this alert update is the sole responsibility of
MISA. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
MISA.
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