The children of the assassinated Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso are to be brought to court on 21 January by Nhimpine Chissano, son of President Joaquim Chissano. He is demanding $78,000 from the children -- enough to bankrupt the family. The case will come to court before that of Cardoso's alleged killers. To bring this action now, so soon after Cardoso's murder, is having a further chilling effect on freedom of the press, and can only further damage the image of Mozambique.

The Commonwealth Press Union and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative are appealing to all friends of Mozambique and supporters of a free press to write to Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi to urge him to use his influence on the President's family to drop the action against Carlos Cardoso's children.

Letters should be sent to:
     Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi
     Gabinete do Primeiro Ministro:
     Praça da Marinha Popular, Maputo
either by email on:
     dgpm.gov@teledata.mz
or by fax to:
     258-1-42 68 81

Copies of letters should also be sent to President Joaquim Chissano's press attaché, Bento Baloi, at:
     bbaloi@yahoo.com
and to the campaign at
     cardosochildren@yahoo.co.uk

The following letter from Richard Bourne, Chair of the Trustee Committee of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, is a possible model:

"I write to express concern at current legal proceedings in Mozambique. It is our understanding that the murderers of the distinguished journalist, Carlos Cardoso, have yet to be brought to trial. His work as editor-proprietor of "Metical" was admired throughout the Commonwealth, and I knew him personally. At the same time his young heirs are being pursued through the courts by Sr Nhimpine Chissano, a businessman, son of President Chissano, in a way that could be ruinous for the family. This conjunction is giving anxiety to friends of Mozambique everywhere, and I hope that you will pass on our view, to the relevant authorities, that serious damage is being done to the country's image. We would wish to see the alleged murderers brought to trial as soon as possible, and any case against the innocent Cardoso children dropped."
 

BACKGROUND TO THE CASE

Carlos Cardoso, Mozambique's best investigative journalist, was editor and proprietor of the faxed daily "Metical". He was investigating extensive corruption in two privatised banks, which appear to involve very senior people, when he was gunned down in a mafia-style assassination during the rush hour on 22 November 2000. There was no investigation of the crime until international pressure was brought on the government. Six people have now been charged for actually carrying out the murder, but it is widely believed that those who ordered the killing have not been pursued.

(Later, Antonio Siba-Siba Macuacua, Mozambique's director of the department of banking supervision, began his own investigations. He was assassinated on 11 August 2001. Investigations have been dilatory and there have been no arrests.)

Because Cardoso was sole owner of "Metical", the ownership of the newspaper passed to his two young children, Ibo and Milena, aged 12 and 6. The family kept the paper open after the murder, Carlos Cardoso's' widow Nina Berg said, because it regarded this as "a civic duty imposed on us by a significant part of society. Unfortunately, this also implied that the two children would be legally and financially responsible for the paper".

This became a real, rather than a theoretical, problem, when businessman Nhimpine Chissano, son of President Joaquim Chissano, sued "Metical" and its acting editor, Marcelo Mosse, for articles published in February 2001. One article was published in "Metical", but Chissano's action attempts to make "Metical", and thus the children, liable to an article in the Johannesburg "Mail and Guardian" which simply quotes Mosse, and for an article written by Mosse in his own name in the Lisbon "Expresso".

The Mozambican courts will decide the merits of the case against Marcelo Mosse. But the inclusion of "Metical" in the case by a member of the President's family will be seen by many as callous and having a chilling effect on the press. Whatever the merits of the case, "Metical" and its staff were struggling to survive and publish as newspaper after the brutal killing of a courageous and hard-working editor. A legal action can only further penalise the newspaper for the death of its editor. More serious, any action against the newspaper is an action against the owners, who are two young children who have already lost their father. "Metical" has now closed, but the children remain liable.

For more information on the case, in English, read J. Hanlon's article
Carlos Cardoso's children face legal battle (Mail & Guardian 11 Jan 2002)
or write to J. Hanlon.
For more information, in Portuguese, read:
Adiado julgamento do caso Nyimpine vs. Mosse