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Mozambique: 'Right to Food' for Assassin
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
24 April 2008
Posted to the web 24 April 2008
Maputo
For the second consecutive day, Simiao Cuamba, lawyer for Mozambique's most notorious assassin, Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), on Thursday demanded special meals privileges for his client.
Anibalzinho is one of six men charged with the attempted murder, in 1999, of Albano Silva, the lawyer who at the time was attempting to prosecute those guilty of the largest bank fraud in Mozambican history. The trial is being held on the premises of the Maputo City Police command, for security reasons.
Anibalzinho is incarcerated in a cell at the police command, serving a 30 year sentence for the murder of journalist Carlos Cardoso. In two years, he has tried to escape from the command at least four times, and the police were reluctant to risk daily transfers of Anibalzinho to and from the Maputo City Court.
Anibalzinho lost the right to receive meals from outside the jail when guards discovered that saw blades and other equipment were being smuggled in along with the food. Now the assassin has taken advantage of the trial to try and restore his lost privileges.
At lunch-time on the second day of the trial, Cuamba pleaded with the presiding judge, Dimas Marroa, for Anibalzinho to be allowed food prepared by his relatives. "The right to food is sacred!", Cuamba exclaimed.
Marroa was skeptical. "No-one is denying Anibalzinho's right to food", he said. "He gets food from inside the prison now. He's not dying of hunger. He put himself in this situation".
When the prison commander was asked to explain, he said that not only had Anibalzinho repeatedly tried to escape, but he had even tried to kill a police officer. Bribery of the guards was clearly a serious problem - the commander said that eight guards are currently under detention, suspected of colluding with Anibalzinho's escape attempts.
A racket going on elsewhere in the prison could be heard inside the court room. "That noise you can hear", the commander said, "that's him. That's Anibalzinho stirring up the other prisoners, telling them not to eat".
Sharp instruments had been repeatedly smuggled into his cell, he continued. Anibalzinho had broken open padlocks and had committed wanton destruction such as cutting the tube to the shower in his own bathroom (Because he is so dangerous, Anibalzinho has the rare privilege of a cell and a bathroom to himself).
The prison guaranteed food to Anibalzinho, but, according to the commander, his response was "I've never eaten beans in my life. I won't eat this shit you give me".
Marroa thought the police should have spoken to the court before depriving Anibalzinho of his meals privileges, and asked the commander for a detailed written account of the situation so that the court can take a final decision".
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Pf/ (451)
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| Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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