Nearly 400 people have signed a petition in 24 hours for the release of kidnap victims in Mozambique

Almost 400 people signed an online petition in 24 hours calling for the “unconditional” release of Mozambican and Portuguese-Mozambican citizens held captive in Mozambique and against kidnappings affecting the country.

“Kidnapping is a heinous crime that has devastated Mozambican society for several years. Mozambican society urgently needs to rise up against what is happening in the country,” says the online petition “Against Kidnappings in Mozambique”, and this will happen in about 24 hours. 379 people subscribed to it.

“The signatories of this petition call for the unconditional release of Portuguese-Mozambicans and Mozambicans in captivity. To this end, the signatories of this petition call on the Mozambican authorities to make every effort to attempt their rescue, and also to the Portuguese authorities to provide the necessary and unconditional support, within the framework of the usual cooperation between the two states, in this process,” says the document addressed to the governments of the two countries.

Maputo has been experiencing a new wave of kidnappings for several weeks now, especially of businessmen: since November, two Portuguese of Mozambican origin have been targeted, one of whom is 26 years old and has been in captivity for more than 50 days, as well as suspicions of the involvement of an agent linked to a police investigation into this type of crime .

There are no official figures on the number of people currently in captivity in Mozambique who have been kidnapped, but on November 17, another Mozambican businessman with ties to the automotive sector was kidnapped by unknown assailants, also in the city of Maputo.

“Don’t let these victims fall into oblivion,” the citizens of Portugal and Mozambique who signed the petition also urge.

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi acknowledged in parliament today that despite improvements in the fight against crime, concerns remain over kidnapping crimes that continue to plague the country.

“Despite these achievements, kidnapping cases continue to plague us, even with a decline of six cases from the 12 cases reported during the same period in 2022,” the head of state said in his routine annual State of the Nation address. , at the Assembly of the Republic in Maputo.

“And of these cases, four related to kidnappings were clarified, 31 people were arrested, the same ones who participated in previous kidnappings, and a director in the Republic of South Africa was arrested as part of judicial cooperation between the authorities of the two countries,” she added. Newsy.

The Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), the country’s largest employers’ association, in early November advocated “harsher” prison sentences for kidnappers and no bail in the face of this new wave of cases. stop these crimes. .

Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleian announced in parliament last May that agents who will work in a special unit to combat kidnappings affecting the country have already been selected.

According to the balance sheet presented by the head of government, 28 cases of kidnapping have been registered since 2021, of which “15 have been fully clarified.”

The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) previously confirmed to Lusa that the Maputo Consulate General was monitoring the attempted kidnapping of a Portuguese-Mozambican national that occurred on November 27, the second case in a month.

“The Consulate General in Maputo is monitoring the situation regarding the attempted kidnapping of a Portuguese-Mozambican citizen. The Mozambican authorities have taken responsibility for the incident,” an official source told MNE in response to Lusa’s question.

This is a Portuguese-Mozambican businessman who was shot dead by unknown assailants who were trying to kidnap him in the center of Maputo, a crime that was prevented thanks to the intervention of the population.

In another case, a group of three armed men kidnapped a 26-year-old girl of Portuguese and Mozambican origin on the morning of November 1 as she left her home in Maputo, a source in the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) said.

“The situation is being monitored through diplomatic and consular posts in Maputo, which are in contact with the family,” a Foreign Ministry source previously told Lusa, and in this case, the young Portuguese-Mozambican woman remains in captivity until this day.