341122E ATTORNEY-GENERAL WANTS NEW CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION APPROACH
Maputo, 10 Nov (AIM) – Mozambique’s Attorney-General, Beatriz Buchili, on Wednesday said that the rise in violent crime, notably kidnappings, demands that her office (PGR) and the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) take a new position towards investigation and prevention methodologies.
The Mozambican authorities, Buchili stressed, had to adapt in order to face the new and increasingly sophisticated methods used by criminals.
“Hence we should strengthen our capacity for intervention, namely in operational work, in the collection of evidence, in international legal and judicial cooperation, and in the coordination between the various stakeholders involved in preventing and fighting crime”, she said.
Buchili was speaking in the western city of Tete, at the opening of a three day meeting between the PGR and Sernic.
The evolution of crime and of the methods used by criminals, she said, “demand a highly intelligent response. So we must continually strengthen our human and research resources, by training and upgrading our staff, and by acquiring modern equipment in line with the development of criminal behaviour”.
Buchili said the Tete meeting is an opportune moment to advance with contributions to enrich Sernic’s draft Strategic Plan, to ensure that it is in line with the PGR’s own Strategic Plan, “so that we are walking at the same pace in pursuing the goals of our state, and in ensuring an environment of justice and peace”.
Buchili stressed that Sernic must not allow the organized and transnational crime that Mozambique currently faces to call into question the sovereignty of the State and the security of its citizens. “We have a duty to prevent and fight against this evil”, she declared.
Buchili called for rigorous selection criteria, in admitting new staff to Sernic, preventing “individuals of dubious conduct” from entering Sernic’s ranks.
“We must also continue to hold responsible for their acts those of our colleagues involved in illicit conduct, which endangers our institutions”, she added. “Only in this way will we be able to rescue the trust of citizens and guarantee that they collaborate with us”.
Corruption, said Buchili, remains one of the main obstacles in the fight against organized crime, since it is one of the key mechanisms used by criminals to ensure their success. Researchers and magistrates in the anti-corruption offices must find better strategies to root out corruption from within their own institutions.
“We cannot tolerate that, as bodies with the duty to prevent and fight against corruption, we have amongst us colleagues who are involved in corrupt practices”, she warned.
(AIM)
Pf/ (421)
