Focus on media freedom

Almost two years after Mozambique renowned journalist Carlos Cardoso was gunned down in a street in the heart of the capital Maputo, journalists have refused to be intimidated. "The media has over the past decade gradually tried to become more independent after years of strict control under the era of the [Marxism-Leninist] one-party state. In many ways, the death of Cardoso threw a challenge at the media," John Mukela, head of the Maputo-based Southern African Media Training Trust, told IRIN. More recently, the press has questioned the suspicious circumstances surrounding the "escape" of Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), one of the six suspects in the murder of Cardoso, from a top security prison in Maputo. The Mozambican Sunday newspaper Domingo, regarded by many as supportive of the ruling FRELIMO party, called for the dismissal of the Minister of Interior Almerino Manhenje. In the 27 October edition, the paper attacked Mahenje's comments in parliament, where he tried to explain the disappearance of Anibalzinho saying: "In what part of the world do prisoners not escape from jails?" Domingo columnist Luis David took issue with Manhenje's remarks saying that although it was true that prisoners escape in other countries, "they escape by digging tunnels. By hacking through bars. By opening holes in the walls ... He [the minister] is trying to play with words. He is trying to change their meaning. For it seems to be a fact that Anibalzinho did not escape. Somebody opened the doors, somebody invited him or ordered him to leave". Cardoso's widow, Nina Berg, a lawyer, said she was not surprised by the newspaper's stance. "We are all very tired of all this," she said. Berg added that the trial was the result of constant pressure from many forces inside and outside Mozambique. Then "everything was thrown overboard [with this escape]. There is no acceptable explanation for his [Anibalzinho’s] escape. Mozambique cannot afford image-wise, that these things happen," she said. Last month a journalist from Mediafax, a daily news update distributed by fax to mainly news agencies and NGOs, ran an article linking the president's son Nyimpine Chissano to the Cardoso case. The report said a new witness, named only as "Opa", who was recently released from prison, said he knew Momade Assife Abdul Satar (better known as "Nini"), one of the businessmen accused of ordering Cardoso's assassination. According to the article, "Opa" had told the magistrate that Nini was merely a go-between acting on behalf of "o filho do galo" (the son of a cockerel). The following day, an article entitled "A chicken called Nyimpine", identified "o filho do galo" as Nyimpine Chissano. Those held responsible for the articles, Marcelo Mosse, editor of Mediafax, Fernando Lima, chairman of the board of Mediacoop, the company that owns the newspaper, and Kok Nam, director of the weekly Savana news update were sent cages of live chickens. The journalists interpreted the "gift" as a bizarre threat. The men who delivered the live chickens to the three journalists claimed they were a gift from the president's wife, Marcelina Chissano. Following that incident, Mediafax published a letter sent by her lawyer, Macedo Pinto, to the newspaper. The letter said: "Marcelina Chissano has never made, nor will she make, any threat against press freedom." A different story by Marcelo Mosse linking Nyimpine Chissano to a drug scandal, has resulted in a libel case against Mosse and the now defunct daily newspaper Metical, which was owned by Cardoso. When he was assassinated in November 2000, ownership of the paper passed onto his two children, Ibo (now aged 13) and Milena (aged seven). If successful, Chissano Jr's libel suit could send Mosse to jail for up to two years, and could bankrupt the Cardoso family, since the libel damages Nyimpine is claiming amount to about US $78,000. The case is currently with the Supreme Court. "When we are in this profession, there are risks," said Mosse. A prominent journalist, Salomao Moyana, former editor of Savana and now director of a new weekly newspaper, Zambeze, has also faced intimidation. During the 1994 general elections, as editor of Savana, Moyana, received death threats by telephone. After the killing of Cardoso, the threats were more frequent and more violent. Between December 2000 and January 2001, he and his colleagues had to evacuate their office three times following bomb threats. Moyana pointed out that journalism had developed dramatically since the new constitution and the liberalisation of the press in 1990. Before then, "the minister of information was acting like the editor-in-chief", said Moyana. In those days, every Monday, the minister of information and a special council would hold a meeting advising what should go in the media that week. However, when Cardoso was editor of the Mozambique News Agency, he was critical of the control and gave his colleagues some room to manoeuvre. Today, articles criticising the government and the opposition appear often. One of the main challenges for journalists is the quality and depth of their coverage, argue editors such as Mosse. Mosse said that even after Cardoso’s death the lack of investigative reporting was "not fear, it was more laziness". With small salaries and lack of proper training, the journalists have "little motivation." Although acknowledging the contribution the media has made, Berg too feels that in-depth, investigative journalism has been missing. "The journalists did not follow-up on issues that Cardoso was pursuing in the same systematic manner that he would have done. We, the family, had hoped that the media would pick up the threads that he left and to keep on investigating continuously the issues that he was reporting on. We were quite sure that in one of those areas we would also find the reasons for why he was killed," Berg told IRIN. Mukela pointed out that Mozambique is, however, the only country in the region which has a coordinated media development programme with multilateral donor agency assistance through UN Development Programme (UNDP) and implemented through the UN Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO). Mukela also added that Mozambique was one of the few countries in the region which had a progressive legal framework strengthening press freedom. Indeed both the government and opposition parties, such as RENAMO, seem to accept that the press can take them on.