Maputo — The family and friends of murdered Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso have launched a fresh appeal for funds to help pay the legal expenses involved in the current trial of the six men charged with the assassination, and in any future legal action linked to the case.

The Carlos Cardoso fund was set up in December 2000, shortly after the murder. It is administered by Cardoso's widow, Nina Berg, the family's lawyer, Lucinda Cruz, and former fiance minister Abdul Magid Osman, and audited by the company Ernst and Young. The purpose of the fund is to honour the memory of Carlos Cardoso, and to assist in investigating the assassination. At the time, the Cardoso family wrote: "We cannot allow a veil of silence to fall over this death. If we let it be forgotten, then they will have killed Carlos a second time. And with that second death will die our hope of living without fear". Money collected through the fund was important in the initial months following the murder. Now more funds are required.

The appeal placed in Monday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax" states that "after two years of waiting, and faced with the need to continue tasks now centred on preparing legal conditions and in providing direct and indirect support for the work of the lawyers, it is necessary to go on collecting contributions".

All who wish to support the Carlos Cardoso Fund are urged to donate to its bank accounts, held at the Banco de Comercio e Investimento (BCI). The account numbers are: 01-1172246-101 (Meticais) 011172246102 (US dollars) The message from Cardoso's family and friends ends: "With calm and determination let us keep alight our solidarity with the man who showed such generosity and solidarity towards all of us".