New York, August 28, 2015–An unidentified gunman shot dead a Mozambican journalist who was out jogging in the capital city of Maputo early today, according to news reports. Paulo Machava was the publisher of the news website Diario de Noticias and had worked with Rádio Moçambique and the weekly Savana, according to reports.
“We are appalled by the brazen murder of Paulo Machava and call on authorities to investigate the crime efficiently, identify the motive, and prosecute the killers,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Sue Valentine. “Machava’s murder has no place in a country striving to build a democracy that two decades ago emerged from civil conflict.”
CPJ has documented the killing of only one journalist in direct relation to his work since the organization began keeping records in 1992. In November 2000, Carlos Cardoso, editor of the daily newsletter Metical, was gunned down in Maputo outside his office after the outlet published an investigation into alleged corruption at a major Mozambican bank. In 2003, six men were convicted for the murder, including one, Anibal dos Santos Junior, who was sentenced to 30 years, according to news reports. The son of former President Joaquim Chissano was charged as the mastermind but died before the trial.
- For data and analysis on Mozambique, visit CPJ’s Mozambique page.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The first paragraph of the statement has been updated to reflect that Machava was not involved in a campaign supporting an economist and two reporters on trial for defamation as previously stated.