Maputo, Sept. 3, 2024 (Lusa) - The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) on Tuesday repudiated what it said are "death threats" made against Mozambican journalist Rui Minja in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, and demanded that the authoritiesa undertake a "swift investigation" into the case.
"MISA Mozambique is deeply shocked by the threats being made against reporter Rui Minja," the non-governmental organisation (NGO) said in a statement. "For MISA, these threats constitute a threat to the free exercise of journalism in Mozambique."
According to MISA, the reporter has been suffering "strong threats" since 24 August, through phone calls and messages and intimidating visits by unknown individuals "supposedly" armed at his home in the city of Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province.
In the early hours of that morning, a person called the journalist by name and said that he was outside his home, MISA said.
Minja saw a car parked outside his house and sent messages asking for help to his fellow journalists, while he contacted the local police who immediately went to the scene, the same statement said.
When the police arrived, the individuals had already left.
Terrified, the reporter was forced to leave the house and seek shelter in safe places, but after returning home on 28 August, he was again contacted by strangers, the MISA statement continues. "This time, the man who called the reporter was clearer: his mission was to end the journalist's life and he would do it whatever the cost."
But the next day, Minja again received phone calls with new threats, saying that he should abandon "his jersey," MISA says.
"The men didn't explain what 'jersey' meant, but the reference is being understood as a message to the journalistic work that Rui Minja does in Cabo Delgado, which is not always to the liking of the local authorities," the statement said.
According to the NGO, the threats began a few hours after the reporter published a report in the main newspaper of the private Mozambican channel TV Sucesso, with which he collaborates.
In this piece, Minja reported that the PRM had prevented supporters of independent presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane from holding a picnic on Wimbe beach in Pemba.
"Following these events, Rui Minja filed a complaint with the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic), the PRM and the Attorney General's Office (PGR), and is awaiting clarification of the case," the statement added.
On Monday morning, when he returned home, the reporter found his gate and yard vandalised and on Tuesday he again received threatening phone calls, MISA said.
As well as TV Sucesso, 32-year-old Rui Minja works for the Lusa news agency in Cabo Delgado.
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