The Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) detained on Thursday a citizen suspected of murdering Mozambican journalist and TV commentator João Chamus, an official source told Luse on Friday.
“The suspect was arrested around 16:00 (14:00 in Lisbon) on the orders of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR),” said Juarce Martins, spokesman for the PRM provincial command in Maputo province.
Mozambican journalist and television commentator Joao Chamus, 59, was found dead on Thursday in the backyard of his residence in Nsima, Maputo province, without clothes and with a wound on the back of his head.
According to PRM, traces found at the crime scene point to the involvement of the detained 44-year-old man, who was a neighbor of João Chamus.
“The suspect must be presented to the judge at any time,” Juarce Martins added, adding that some of the journalist’s belongings were found in the suspect’s possession.
The National Union of Journalists and the High Council of Social Communications of Mozambique expressed regret over the death of Chamus, the latter calling on the authorities to conduct an in-depth investigation to clarify the circumstances of the case.
The Institute of Social Communications of South Africa (Misa Moçambique), an NGO that advocates for press freedom, called for a peaceful march on Monday that will culminate in the presentation of a petition to the Mozambique Attorney General’s Office against “impunity for crimes against journalists in Mozambique.”
A commercial pilot trained at the Lisbon Aviation School, João Chamus was the editorial director of the online newspaper Ponto por Ponto and a television commentator with a critical, ironic and sometimes comical approach, especially on domestic political issues. .