Maputo, 10 Oct (AIM) – The Court in the Kampfumo Municipal District of Maputo on Monday acquitted six students living at the residence of the Maputo School of Nautical Sciences whom the police had attempted to charge with the crime of disobedience.
The six were detained after the Nautical School students protested against their living conditions, and attempted to march on the office of Transport Minister Mateus Magala.
They were arrested last Monday, 2 October, and their first court appearance was on Thursday.
The court on Monday took evidence from the school director and from the arresting officer – none of which convinced judge Isaura Pereira.
Pereira said the panel of judges had reached the conclusion that there was no evidence a crime had been committed.
Indeed, Pereira believed the case should never have come to trial in the first place. She said even the arresting officer had been unable to explain to the court why he had decided that the students had committed the crime of disobedience.
The detention of the students had been “excessive”, she said, as she ordered their release.
The students had been unable to speak to Magala, but they did put their case to the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Daniel Navigara, who promised to investigate conditions in the students’ residence.
The students complained of poor food and clogged sinks, and said there was only one toilet for 20 students. They invited reporters into the residence and the film later shown on Mozambican television channels supported their claims of unhygienic living conditions.
(AIM)
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