One of six men accused of killing prominent Mozambican
investigative reporter Carlos Cardoso told a court on Tuesday that the crime was ordered by Nyimpine Chissano, eldest son of President Joaquim Chissano.
Manuel dos Anjos Fernandes, better known as Escurinho, said on the second day of a long-awaited trial that he was ”invited” to join the killers by key suspect Anibal Antonio dos Santos Anibalzinho, who escaped from prison in September.
”I was personally invited by Anibalzinho who promised to pull me out of poverty. He told me that Cardoso’s killing had been ordered by Nyimpine, the son of the president of the republic”, Escurinho told the court as he pleaded guilty.
He said he had been promised a total of 500-million Meticais (about $21 000), but had to date only received the equivalent of $1 250.
Fernandes’ lawyer, Simeao Cuamba, asked to be excused from the trial when his client pleaded guilty, after he had been saying that he was innocent all along.
But the trial judge ordered the lawyer to continue defending the accused until a replacement defence lawyer is found.
Another suspect, bureau de change owner Ayob Satar, who is accused of funding the crime, has pleaded not guilty. In a murder which shook the southern African country, Cardoso was gunned down in central Maputo in November 2000 as he was probing the disappearance of about $14-million from the BCM commercial bank prior to its privatisation in 1996.
Nyimpine is a successful Maputo businessman, whose name has frequently been mentioned in the press for allegedly conducting suspicious business activities.
He has also been linked to the ruinous management of the Banco Austral, a commercial bank, which led to its near collapse about two years ago. Banco Austral was managed by Malaysia’s Southern Bank Berhard
(SBB) and INVESTER, a shady Mozambican business group whose owners’ identities have never been made public.
On Monday, Judge Augusto Paulino laid four charges, including murder, against each of the accused. The court, which is trying Anibalzinho in his absence, is in the maximum security prison where the five other suspects are held.
Cardoso’s lawyer Lucinda da Cruz said all six suspects should be found guilty and demanded compensation for Cardoso’s family.
”They have both a criminal and civil responsibility. They deprived two minors of their father’s affection and assistance,” the lawyer said.
Cardoso is survived by his wife and two children.
In addition to investigating the banking scandal Cardoso had been vocal in denouncing illegal schemes in which Mozambican trade was used as a cover for a number of shady deals, including some involving drugs.
He had also investigated high-level corruption in the justice system. The trial is seen as an opportunity for the country’s judiciary to redeem itself from its corrupt reputation. – Sapa-AFP