MOZAMBIQUE: ANIBALZINHO RETRIAL BEGINS; DEFENDANT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001569 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/S FOR HTREGER NSC FOR CCOURVILLE MCC FOR SGAULL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM KCOR PREL PHUM MZ SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: ANIBALZINHO RETRIAL BEGINS; DEFENDANT CLAIMS HE IS INNOCENT REF: A. MAPUTO 1555 ¶B. MAPUTO 133 MAPUTO 00001569 001.2 OF 002 Summary -------------- ¶1. The retrial of Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), the man convicted of leading the hit squad responsible for the November 2000 assassination of investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso, began on December 1 in the Maputo City court. Anibalzinho was previously tried in absentia and, in January 2003, sentenced to 28 and a half years for his involvement in the murder. In December 2004, the Supreme Court issued a controversial ruling allowing a retrial based on a technicality in the law. During testimony on December 1, Anibalzinho proclaimed his innocence, stating he knew of the plot but did not take part in it. Media coverage on the first days of the retrial has been extensive, though public interest appears to have waned since the original 2002 trial. End Summary Background -------------- ¶2. Anibalzinho organized the November 2000 murder of Mozambique's foremost investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso. During the original November 2002 to January 2003 court proceedings, Anibalzinho was tried in absentia since he remained at large following his September 2002 escape from Maputo's maximum security prison. He was arrested in South Africa on January 30, 2003 and deported back to Mozambique just hours after the judge passed down his 28 and a half year sentence. Anibalzinho managed a second escape from the same maximum security facility in May 2004. He was eventually arrested in Canada and once again deported back to Mozambique in January 2005, after his request for political asylum was denied by Canadian authorities (ref B). ¶3. Five other individuals were sentenced along with Anibalzinho in 2003, including Manuel Fernandes (the lookout) and Carlitos Rashid (the trigger man),both of whom pointed to Anibalzinho as the one who recruited them and drove the car during the operation. Brothers Nini and Ayob Abdul Satar and former Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM) manager Vicente Ramaya were also found guilty and sentenced to more than 20 years for allegedly ordering the killing because of Cardoso's investigation into a USD 14 million bank scandal involving BCM. It remains unclear who ordered the killing, though testimony in the original trial reportedly implicated prominent Mozambicans, including the son of then-President Chissano, Nyimpine Chissano. End Background. Anibalzinho Gets His Day in Court -------------- ¶4. In December 2004, the Supreme Court passed down a controversial decision that overturned the February 2003 denial for a retrial requested by Anibalzinho's lawyer. Then-presiding judge Augusto Paulino ruled against the request based on his interpretation of a clause in the Penal Procedural Code governing retrials for those tried in absentia (Note: Paulino ruled that because Anibalzinho had been in jail prior to his court date, he had no right to a retrial. End note.) Late last year, the Supreme Court effectively overruled the decision, stating instead that anyone sentenced in absentia to a prison term of more than two years should be allowed a retrial (ref B). The retrial, which began on December 1 at the tenth circuit Maputo City Court, is reportedly designed to "root out" additional evidence in the case and will not annul Anibalzinho's original sentence handed down in 2003. According to presiding judge Benvinda Levy, the proceedings will include testimony from at least six men, including Ramaya and Anibalzinho himself. ¶5. During an emotional November 22 ceremony marking the 5th anniversary of the murder, Cardoso family lawyer Lucinda Cruz stated that the retrial would leave no one untouched and would serve to uncover exactly who was behind the murder. Cruz and Helder Matlaba, the lawyer representing Cardoso's wounded driver, Carlos Manjate, are both seeking compensation from the accused. The Cardoso family is demanding MAPUTO 00001569 002.2 OF 002 approximately 14 billion meticais (approx. USD 500,000) in compensation for Cardoso's two young children. Manjate, who was shot in the head during the incident and can no longer work, is seeking 500 million meticais (approx. USD 18,000) in damages. ¶6. During this week's testimony, Anibalzinho has proclaimed his innocence stating that he was aware of the murder plot, but did not take part in it. He admitted to meeting with the Satar brothers and Ramaya to discuss a potential "business deal," though he claimed he did not know the proposition involved murder. These statements are in direct contradiction to a taped video confession Anibalzinho sent to the Maputo City Court during the original 2002-2003 proceedings, in which he confessed to his involvement in the murder plot. Comment -------------- ¶7. Press coverage of the first days of the retrial has been quite extensive, with stories being picked up in both the local and international press. Expectations were that public interest would be high; however, the retrial has not yet seemed to grab the public's full attention. Most observers have little faith that the trial will succeed in uncovering the truth behind the murder. With Anibalzinho painting himself as an innocent car salesman who would never be involved in theft let alone murder, there is likely even less hope now that any significant revelations will result from this retrial. La Lime