Joint call for Mozambican reporter’s immediate release
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 37 other human rights organizations have issued a joint call for the immediate and unconditional release of Amade Abubacar, a radio journalist held arbitrarily for more than 90 days in northeastern Mozambique.
A reporter for Nacedje, a community radio station in Macomia, in Cabo Delgado province, Abubacar has been held without trial ever since 5 January, when he was arrested while interviewing families fleeing violence by Islamist rebels who have been operating in the region since October 2017.
As of today, Abubacar has been held for a total of 98 days, which violates a Mozambican law limiting pre-trial detention to a maximum of 90 days.
He was initially held at military camp, where he says he was subjected to various forms of mistreatment. He is now in a regular prison in Pemba, the provincial capital, where he has not yet been formally charged and where his family has not yet been allowed to visit him.
“By continuing to detain Amade Abubacar arbitrarily, the Mozambican authorities are showing they want to prevent media coverage of the Islamist insurrection in the north of the country,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “This reporter was just doing his job. We demand his immediate and unconditional release and an investigation into the mistreatment to which he says he was subjected.”
Mozambique is ranked 99th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, six places lower than in 2017.
See below the joint statement signed by RSF and 37 other human rights organizations.
