Maputo, 15 Nov (AIM) – The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a prominent Mozambican NGO, has claimed that the authorities on Wednesday detained two South African journalists who came to the country to cover the demonstrations called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane to protest against the allegedly fraudulent results of the 9 October general elections.
According to the CDD report, the journalists in question are Bongani Siziba and Sbonelo Mkhasi who came to work in Mozambique on behalf of the Nigerian news channel “NewsCentral Africa TV.”
“The arrest of journalists is yet another direct attack on press freedom, with an impact on the right to information, a basic human right. The arrest of Bongani and Sbonelo highlights Mozambique’s alarming approach to controlling the narrative and keeping the world in the dark about the voices of Mozambican citizens rising up against allegations of electoral fraud and state repression”, reads the report.
The CDD claims that this is the second time that the country has violated press freedom involving foreign journalists, since two Portuguese journalists from the TV channel “CMTV” were also “threatened and forced to leave the country.”
“In a country where freedom of the press has always been restricted, in this time of crisis it is being seriously affected. There have been several cases of attacks on press freedom, most notably on 21 October, when the police deliberately and intentionally fired tear gas grenades during a press conference with presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane”, the note says.
According to the document, since the arrival of the South African journalists “all attempts to contact them have failed. Their incommunicado detention not only takes away their freedom, but also denies them the basic right to communicate with colleagues, family or lawyers.”
“The authorities have not provided any information about their condition or the reasons for keeping them out of contact, a worrying move that appears to be an attempt to silence international coverage of the crisis in Mozambique”, reads the note.
(AIM)
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