Maputo, Mozambique — Exactly three months after the assassination of Mozambique's most prominent journalist, Carlos Cardoso, hundreds of people gathered at the scene of the murder on Thursday night to lay wreaths, light candles, and warn the authorities that this crime will not be forgotten.
Cardoso was ambushed and gunned down at about 18.40 on 22 November, as he was returning home from the offices of 'Metical' the daily paper he owned and edited.
At the spot where two unknown assailants raked Cardoso with AK-47 fire there is an old tree stump. On Thursday night it was once again piled high with flowers.
The nearby wall was covered with posters bearing Cardoso's portrait, and the words "We demand justice. We do not want to live in fear".
"If I could have one wish, a wish that would come true, it would be to know who killed my father", Cardoso's 12-year-old son, Ibo, declared to the crowd in a short message.
"I would so much like my father to be with me still, to play and to laugh with him, to watch football together with him", Ibo added.
"I wanted so much for him to be with me and my sister Milena, for him to accompany us as we grow up. I wanted him to teach us all that he knew".
"My father always told us that he could not live as a coward, accepting lies, and not speaking out against everything that was unjust", Ibo said.
"That was why he died, because he fought for the truth". "I want to respect the memory of my father, and grow up an honest and decent man. A man like my father", concluded Ibo.
"I hope that his strength and courage stay with us for ever, and help us make Mozambique a place where we children are not afraid to live".
Martin Lidegaard, the information director of the Danish NGO Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, read out a letter that Danish journalists and organisations have sent to Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, criticising the "inefficiency" of the police investigation of the murder.
The Danish signatories to the letter view the murder of Carlos Cardoso as an attack on all journalists, and called for the establishment of an independent international commission to investigate the crime.
