The Attorney General's Office in Cabo Delgado province has decided to keep the case of the disappearance of journalist Ibrahimo Abú Mbaruco, which took place in the Palma district of the province in April 2020, on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

The decision was taken on July 18, according to a document in the possession of the MZNewssigned by the Public Prosecutor in Pemba, Mistério João Mitelela.

"The Public Prosecutor orders that these proceedings await the production of the best evidence, under the terms of article 324(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure," it reads.

The case has been going on for more than four years, since 44-year-old Juma Abú Mbaruco reported the disappearance of his brother, a journalist for Rádio Comunitária de Palma, to the Provincial Prosecutor's Office in Cabo Delgado province on April 14, 2020.

In that action, Juma Abú Mbaruco actually denounced the kidnapping of his brother Ibrahimo Abú Mbaruco by presumed soldiers from the Defense and Security Forces because they were wearing uniforms identical to those of the Mozambican army.

One of the six declarants cited in the Order in Case No. 82/02/P/2024 told the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), Palma District Directorate, that on the day of the disappearance, he was with the journalist in the Quilaua neighborhood, and when it was around 5:50 p.m., Ibrahimo Abú Mbaruco received a message from an alleged girlfriend with the content "come here love", which led Ibrahimo Abú Mbaruco to leave the scene.

A reporting citizen told SERNIC that she had met the journalist on the day of the disappearance, and that at around 5pm, Ibrahimo Abú Mbaruco had sent her a message trying to find out where she was and then Ibrahimo Abú Mbaruco had called to tell her that he was going to meet her. She also said that she had opposed Ibrahimo Abú Mbaruco's request because she was at her husband's house. According to the Order, this was the last contact she had with the journalist.

Another declarant, a colleague of Ibrahimo Abú Mbaruco's, said that the latter had been at Palma Community Radio between 07h00 and 18h00. He left the radio station at 7pm when he received a message from the journalist saying "Please call me. I've been caught with the military. They're giving me a hard time". In response, the declarant wrote "Good evening. Where are you? I'm asking you to make sure the broadcast opens very early tomorrow morning. I left the radio keys with Sadex".

The victim's wife was interviewed and told the authorities that the journalist was a one-woman man and never spent nights away from home.

The judicial authorities made further enquiries with mobile phone companies and commercial banks. It emerged that the victim had a bank account with just over 42,000 meticais.

From the findings, the PGR in Cabo Delgado, having still not been able to clarify the case, confirms that the journalist's whereabouts are unknown, his motives, it has not been proven that he was kidnapped or abducted and taken by the military to an unknown location, and that he is still missing.