On Thursday night, January 9, two reporters from TV Sucesso, Herculano Ernesto and Mixaque Lucas, were attacked while covering a fire at a commercial establishment in the Lichinga Central Market, Niassa province. The place sold car and motorcycle parts.

The journalists went to the scene after receiving a report of a fire at around 21:00. While they were capturing footage of the incident, the owner of the establishment, identified as "Badman", a Nigerian national, approached them and demanded that they stop filming. According to Herculano Ernesto, the citizen threatened to damage the filming equipment if the reporters didn't comply. When he saw the journalists' refusal to stop their coverage, Badman turned aggressively to Mixaque Lucas, who was operating the camera at the time, and struck him with blows that resulted in minor injuries to his lips. In addition, the attacker knocked over the equipment used by the reporters, including the camera and microphones. After the attack, the journalists filed a complaint at the local police station and then went to Lichinga Provincial Hospital, where Mixaque Lucas received medical attention.

The positioning

MISA Mozambique vehemently repudiates the aggression suffered by TV Sucesso journalists Herculano Ernesto and Mixaque Lucas while covering a fire at the Lichinga Central Market in Niassa province. This act represents a major and serious violation of the Freedom of the Press and the Right to Information, fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique. For MISA Mozambique, acts like this are absolutely unacceptable and repudiable, as they compromise the free and independent work of journalists, who play an essential role in promoting transparency and access to information for society.

Preventing the work of the press through violence or intimidation is a direct threat to democratic principles.

In addition, MISA Mozambique will work in coordination with TV Sucesso to ensure that the judicial authorities conduct a swift investigation and guarantee that the perpetrator of the attacks is held accountable under the law. (Press release)