A police officer from the Republic of Mozambique's Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) and two civilian accomplices were sentenced yesterday to up to 30 years in prison for their involvement in the kidnapping of a national citizen on the afternoon of November 9, 2023, in the city of Matola, Maputo province.

The kidnap victim and his cousin had won around 4,588,000 meticais in the lottery, and this was the amount the trio demanded for ransom.

The 6th Criminal Chamber of the Maputo Provincial Court imposed a fine of 1.7 million meticais on each of the defendants: Eurico Tembe, 37 - the UIR agent; Gilberto Mandlate, 38 - a private security agent posing as a military officer; and Sérgio Bambo, 47 - a shopkeeper.

Charged with kidnapping and possession of prohibited weapons, Tembe's sentence totaled 32 years and was reduced to 30 years in prison.

Mandlate had his sentence reduced to 30 years' imprisonment after the sum of the crimes charged (kidnapping, possession of prohibited weapons, a fine of up to one year at the minimum rate for the crime of unlawful exercise of public functions) resulted in 42 years.

Bambo was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime of kidnapping, 12 years in prison for the crime of possession of prohibited weapons, and eight years in prison and a fine of up to one year, at the minimum rate, for the crime of unlawful exercise of public functions. The sum of the sentences imposed totals 44 years and the applicable penal framework ranges from 20 to 30 years. A single sentence of 30 years in prison was therefore imposed.

The court also ordered the forfeiture to the state of the Toyota vehicle, model Mark X, and the defendant Eurico José Armando Tembe's house, located in the Matola A neighborhood, block 44, for being used as instruments of crime. These assets must be handed over to the Asset Management Office.

The defense says there are sufficient mechanisms to file appeals. (Sources: STV and Cartamz)