The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay, condemned the murder of Mozambican journalist Joao Chamus and called for an investigation into the circumstances of the crime.
In a statement published by the UN organization, which Lusa accessed this Friday, Audrey Azoulay calls for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of this professional on December 14 in Maputo and states that “impunity for such crimes must not be tolerated and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.”
“UNESCO promotes the safety of journalists through global awareness, training and coordination of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Challenge of Impunity,” the organization reminds.
The National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernik) announced on December 22 the arrest of two more suspects involved in the murder of Mozambican journalist João Chamoussa.
“They were detained with the victim’s mobile phones and computer,” Enrique Mendes, Sernic’s spokesman for Maputo province, said during a press conference.
Joao Chamus, 59, was found dead on December 14 in the backyard of his residence in Nsima, Maputo province, without clothes and with a wound on the back of his head.
Authorities believe there is strong evidence implicating the 23-year-old and 18-year-old defendants in the crime, including the blunt instrument used to kill João Chamousset.
“One of them, a confessor, claims that he did some work in the victim’s house and was not paid. Therefore, he decided to pay the victim, he was the victim’s neighbor. […]. Another suspect was arrested with the mobile phone of one of the victims as a result of the work we did,” said Sernik’s representative.
Three other people detained in connection with the case last week have since been released, authorities said.
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. .