Mozambique
Cardoso murder case becomes more ticklish

afrol News, 8 October - After the independent Mozambican press increasingly is reporting on a link between the President's family and the killers of journalist Carlos Cardoso, suddenly the strangest things are happening. Journalists receive deliveries of 100 chickens, allegedly with compliments from the First Lady.

Mr Cardoso, Mozambique's best-known investigative journalist, was gunned down in the streets of the capital, Maputo, on 22 November 2000, after leaving the offices of 'Metical', the weekly fax-distributed newsletter that he published at the time. He was revealing a large corruption case involving the political and economic elite of the country.

Six suspects were arrested in connection with the murder in 2001, following a vigorous public campaign by Cardoso's family, friends and colleagues. The investigation subsequently stalled, however. Police never adequately established a motive for the crime, and failed to consider the possibility that Mr Cardoso's murder was related to journalistic investigations into the corruption affair he was working on at the time of his death.

Anibal Antonio dos Santos Junior (better known by his underworld nickname of Anibalzinho) was accused of the actual murder of Carlos Cardoso. Former bank manager Vicente Ramaya, the wealthy businessmen Ayob Abdul Satar and Momade Assife Abdul Satar, were arrested as the "moral authors" of the crime, who allegedly paid the assassins. The three were the main suspects in a huge 1996 bank fraud, the corruption case that Mr Cardoso was following tenaciously.

On 1 September, however, Anibalzinho, the main suspect in the Cardoso case, escaped from top security jail. According to the weekly paper 'Savana', Anibalzinho had good police connections arising from his business as a trafficker in luxury vehicles. Before Anibalzinho's escape, it was generally expected that the trial would begin in September or October.

In September, the Cardoso case has developed into new dimensions through investigative journalism by Fernando Lima of the independent weekly 'MediaFax'. Mr Lima for the first time managed to establish a link between the murder suspects and the family of President Joaquim Alberto Chissano.

According to 'MediaFax', as well as the Maputo weekly 'Domingo', a man identified as "Opa," or "Uapa," testified on 23 September before the magistrate investigating the Cardoso murder. Opa claimed he met Momade Abdul Satar, one of the accused masterminds of the Cardoso murder, while in jail.

Opa further alleged that Mr Satar had told him that he had carried out Cardoso's murder at the behest of someone he described as "o filho do galo" (the son of the rooster). In a 27 September column signed by journalist Fernando Lima, 'MediaFax' reported that Opa had told the magistrate that the "son of the rooster" referred to Nymphine Chissano. 

The next night, at about 1 a.m., a truck arrived at the home of Kok Nam, the publisher of 'Savana', which is owned by the same media cooperative, MediaCoop, that publishes 'MediaFax'. The driver of the truck said he had about 100 chickens to deliver to Kok Nam and Fernando Lima, who had written the article in 'MediaFax'. 

The driver claimed that the chickens were a gift from the first lady, Marcelina Chissano - the mother of Nymphine Chissano. Later that day, similar trucks carrying chickens attempted to make deliveries to the home of 'MediaFax' editor Marcelo Mosse and to the offices of MediaCoop.

While the incidents were not themselves threatening, they were understood to send a clear message of high-level displeasure, a message that could be dangerous given the current environment in Mozambique. 

In 2000, Nymphine Chissano - the alleged "son of the rooster" - filed a criminal defamation suit against Marcelo Mosse, who was then editor of 'Metical', having assumed the position after Mr Cardoso's murder. Chissano Jr was accused of involvement in drug trafficking. Facing mounting legal pressure, 'Metical' ceased publication earlier this year. Mr Mosse subsequently became editor of 'MediaFax'. 

Also the 1 September prison escape of prime suspect Anibalzhino is currently appearing in a different light. According to reports in the Mozambican press, Interior Minister Almerino Manhenje had been warned that Anibalzhino was planning to try to escape from prison but failed to take action. 

At the same time, former police investigator António Frangoulis, who prosecuted Anibalzhino, claimed in a letter sent to the Minister of the Interior (that was published by 'MediaFax') to have received threatening phones calls from Anibalzhino after he escaped from prison. 

The chicken delivery meanwhile is seen as a clear indication that 'MediaFax' journalist, Mr Lima, is on the right track in his investigations. In the current environment, however, media organisations interpret the attempt to deliver chickens to 'MediaFax' as "a threatening gesture."

The US-based group, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), today wrote a letter of protest to President Chissano, stating its concern for "the safety of journalists whose recent reporting on the possible involvement of your family has been met by apparent intimidation." The group fears this intimidation "makes the prospect of achieving justice in the murder increasingly remote." 

Sources: Based on CPJ, Mozambican press, MISA and afrol archives

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