On Friday in Beira, the Sofala Province Judicial Court (TJPS) sentenced four of the seven individuals on trial to between three and thirty years in prison, for having proven their involvement in the crimes of kidnapping, money laundering, criminal association and possession of prohibited weapons.

According to a report in "Noticias", they are Nelson Mutabeia, Baptista Raiva, Ibraimo Carlos, Tomás Munocola, the latter a healer whose house was used as a prison for the victims.

The others, who go by the names of Abubacar Metal, Abu José and Pedro Jorge, were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

The convicts, according to the publication, will also have to pay compensation of 35 million meticais to the victims and their families and another ten million to the state.

The judge in the case, Martinho Muchiguere, said it was proven during the trial that the co-defendants acted freely, consciously and deliberately with the unequivocal intention of taking dividends or making easy money, which weighed in the application of the penalties, including the maximum penalty provided for by the new Penal Code, approved by Law 24/2019, of December 24.

In connection with the aforementioned crimes, the court issued an arrest warrant for other alleged members of this group, who are now in an uncertain location, namely: Moisés Ngove, Moniz Banco, Bento Novas, Camilo Botão, Ofice Miquitaio and Alfredo Matsimbe.

Muchiguere noted that, since the neutralization of the co-defendants, the city of Beira has noticed a certain calm in relation to kidnappings and he hopes that, after this group, there won't be another one.

"Kidnapping has devastating consequences; in economic terms, many entrepreneurs have left our country. Driving away national or foreign investment causes unemployment, resulting in misery for families," he said.

It should be noted that, during the trial, the representative of the Public Prosecutor's Office, Eugénio da Graça, revealed that the defendants are part of a group that has been in existence for several years and is dedicated to kidnapping and other crimes, having captured several citizens between 2020 and 2022, in various provincial capitals, especially the cities of Beira, Maputo, Chimoio