A Maputo judge refused Wednesday to grant a retrial to a man he tried and convicted in absentia for his part in the murder of Mozambican investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso.
Dos Santos escaped from prison before the trial and was arrested in South Africa after being sentenced in absentia to 28 years and six months for organising Cardoso’s murder, paying the killers and driving the car from which he was shot.
Judge Augusto Paulino refused Dos Santos’ application for a retrial because he had escaped. The judge said Dos Santos, whom he earlier described as an ”habitual delinquent” knew full well he was to be tried for crimes that carried the maximum penalty. But rather than defend himself, he had fled the country.
Dos Santos escaped from a top security Maputo prison on 1 September 2002. After waiting the statutory 60 days for the fugitive to surrender, the court went ahead with the murder trial of Dos Santos and five other men.
Criminal proceedings are underway against 11 police officers accused of helping Dos Santos escape. The five convicted in Cardoso’s murder have been granted leave to leave to appeal against their sentences.
Ayob Abdul Satar and bank manager Vincente Ramaya were convicted of ordering Cardoso’s killing and were sentenced to 23 years in prison. Abdul Satar’s brother, Momade Assife Abdul Satar, was sentenced to 24 years.
Manuel Fernandes and Carlitos Rachid Cassamo, who shot Cardoso were sentenced to 23 years. Their confessions that dos Santos recruited them, drove the car and paid them for their part in the murder, were crucial to his conviction.
Cardoso, 49, the founder and editor of the independent newspaper Metical, had been investigating the 1996 theft of $$14-million from the Commercial Bank of Mozambique when he was killed.
Cardoso was riding in a car in Maputo on the night of Novemver 20, 2000, when two vehicles forced it to stop. Gunmen then shot Cardoso in the face, killing him and wounding his driver. Cardoso had accused prominent Mozambicans of being involved in the bank robbery. Among them are a former attorney general, a
former Cabinet minister, and President Joaquim Chissano’s son, Nyimpine. Police are investigating allegations against Chissano. – Sapa-AP