Maputo — The Mozambican Public Prosecutor's Office on Friday interrogated Antonio Malo, the managing director of the travel agency and car hire company Expresso Tours, in connection with the November 2000 murder of the country's top investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso, reports Monday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax".
Six people charged with the assassination are currently on trial before the Maputo City Court. But a second file on the murder has been opened, in which the accused include Nyimpine Chissano, co-owner of Expresso Tours, and oldest son of President Joaquim Chissano.
Malo was questioned because he allegedly dealt with the postdated Expresso Tours cheques given to loan shark Momade Assife Abdul Satar ("Nini") as security against a loan of 1.2 billion meticais (about 50,000 US dollars) to Nyimpine Chissano.
According to Satar, at Chissano's request, he gave this money to Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), the fugitive who allegedly organised the death squad that murdered Cardoso.
Satar claims he did not realise the money was to be used for a contract killing.
Nyimpine Chissano denied that he had any business dealings with Satar - but Satar was in possession of seven Expresso Tours cheques, totalling 1.29 billion meticais, which he gave to the court as evidence in November.
"Mediafax" says that a second team from the Public Prosecutor's office visited the top security prison on Friday to question Nini Satar. The paper's sources said this interrogation lasted from 09.00 to 16.00, and has not yet terminated.
According to the paper, Satar provided "new information" on his links with Chissano and with his business partner Apolinario Pateguana. The records of the mobile phone company M-Cel indicate 110 phone calls between Satar and Chissano or Pateguana during the year 2000, plus five phone calls that the two business partners allegedly made to Anibalzinho in October 2000, the month prior to the assassination of Cardoso.
"Mediafax" also insists that on Friday Interior Minister Almerino Manhenje was questioned by attorneys about the illicit release of Anibalzinho from the top security prison last September.
However, when the paper rang up Assistant Attorney-General Rafael Sebastiao, he said he had no information about the interrogation of Manhenje. He added that it was likely that the interrogation had happened without him being informed of it.
He did say that, if the Public Prosecutor's Office believes that Manhenje was involved in the release of Anibalzinho, then it may request President Joaquim Chissano to remove him from office "so that there can be more transparency in the case".
