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Mozambique: Suspected Accomplice of Child Trafficker Arrested
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
14 May 2008
Posted to the web 14 May 2008
Maputo
A suspected accomplice of Aldina dos Santos, alias Diana, accused of trafficking young girls from Mozambique to South Africa for sexual exploitation, has recently been arrested in Maputo, and should appear before a court in Pretoria when Diana's trial resumes in June, reports Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
This news was broken in the Pretoria court after the judge announced the adjournment of the trial. The name of the alleged accomplice was not revealed.
Mozambican and South African experts, who are working on the case, said that the accomplice was only arrested now because he had been in hiding since Diana was detained two months ago.
He is accused of recruiting and seducing young girls in Mozambique, promising them a life of luxury and schooling in South Africa. When they arrive, however, they find that they have been sold into sexual slavery.
The accomplice was arrested because Diana cited him several times during her interrogation by the South Africa police. The police say it was difficult to locate him, not only because he was hiding, but because Diana never revealed his true name, only referring to him by a nickname.
The police say that many other suspects are on the list for arrest, but the main difficulty is that they too are only mentioned by nicknames.
The police are also looking for Diana's lover, who is a further suspect in the case. He is thought to have travelled from the United States to an unidentified Asian country.
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Mozambicans who had travelled to South Africa over the weekend to be present at the Diana trial came back disappointed at the adjournment. The adjournment was at the request of Diana's South African lawyer, even without her knowledge or consent. Diana's family, through her father, Hermenegildo dos Santos, who contracted him, decided to end the contract and is reclaiming the 9,000 rands (about 1,150 US dollars) paid to him for the job.
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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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