Maputo, 24 Jul (AIM) – The Permanent Secretary of the Mozambican Justice Ministry, Justino Tonela, has claimed that the wave of kidnappings in Mozambican cities does not mean that the national justice system is failing.
According to Tonela, who was speaking to reporters on Tuesday “there are no flaws in the justice system, because all those who have been investigated and arrested have been convicted.”
He said that there are many people involved in the kidnappings, who are now in prison, “which means that the Mozambican justice system is acting fully and the state is penalizing all the individuals involved.”
The kidnappings affect mostly businesspeople of Asian origin. The kidnappings have been jeopardizing Mozambique’s socio-economic development, since they frighten investors, who look for safer places to put their money.
Within the past week two citizens of Asian origin have been kidnapped in Maputo city. The first case occurred on Saturday, and the second on Monday.
The kidnappings occurred in central parts of the city, which are heavily policed, near government buildings such as the Ministry of the Interior, and the Maputo City police command.
On Tuesday the police announced that they had found a kidnappers’ hideout where they imprisoned some of their victims in the southern city of Matola. This place was inside a condominium which is literally next door to a police station.
The police in this station had a clear view of everyone entering and leaving the condominium, including the kidnappers and their prisoners. Yet they did nothing.
The Muslim Association of Mozambican Businessmen and Entrepreneurs (AMEEM) has already reacted with a note of repudiation to the wave of kidnappings, in which it laments the poor performance of the police in stopping this type of crime.
“Regrettably, the criminals carry out their operations in broad daylight, armed with firearms, with their faces exposed, at ease, without fear of any repercussions”, reads the AMEEM statement.
(AIM)
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