"METICAL" LIBEL CASE POSTPONED AGAIN

Maputo, 17 Dec (AIM) - A Maputo court on Monday again postponed a libel case involving businessman Nhimpine Chissano, son of President Joaquim Chissano, after defence lawyers argued vigorously that irregularities in the prosecution case are so serious that it should be ruled null and void.

Chissano Jr is suing journalist Marcelo Mosse and the independent newsheet "Metical" for libel arising out of articles published early this year.

The main "Metical" article cited by Nhimpine Chissano's lawyer, Antonio Balate, dates from 22 February, when Mosse was editing the paper.

The article cited President Chissano's press attache as denying any involvement by the president's office in paying bail to secure the release of Nhimpine who had allegedly been briefly detained in South Africa the previous week.

Balate's original letter to "Metical" sent in March, and threatening legal action, declared that his client "never transported cocaine or other substances forbidden by law inside or outside the country".

But the "Metical" story did not mention cocaine. That allegation was first made in the South African weekly, the "Mail and Guardian", under the byline of a South African journalist. It was later repeated, under Mosse's byline, in the Portuguese weekly "Expresso" - Mosse is the "Expresso" correspondent in Maputo.

Although the "Mail and Guardian" article was not written by Mosse, and although "Metical" has no editorial control over what appears in the "Mail and Guardian" or in "Expresso", all the articles have been thrown together in the prosecution case.

This is one of the serious irregularities raised by the defence. Another concerns the date on which the accusation was submitted.

Under Mozambican libel rules, the court "notifies" the prosecution lawyer, giving him the green light to proceed, and he then has five days in which to submit a formal libel accusation to the court.

The two defence lawyers, Helder Matlaba, representing Mosse, and Lucinda Cruz, representing "Metical", argue that Balate submitted his accusation a day late, and that it is therefore out of order, and should be rejected.

Balate says he only received the notification on 6 September, and delivered his accusation to the court exactly five days later, on 11 September. But the defence says that when the notification left the court it was dated 5 September.

So which is the valid date - the date put on the document by the court, or the date written in hand by Balate?

A further problem with the prosecution case concerns the Public Prosecutor's Office. Because libel is a criminal, rather than a civil, matter in Mozambique, the accusation by Nhimpine Chissano's lawyer is not sufficient. The Public Prosecutor must also express an opinion - either supporting the private prosecution, or drawing up separate charges, or declaring that there is no case to answer.

In this case, the Public Prosecutor did none of the above, but simply remitted the case to the court. Lucinda Cruz argues that this is highly irregular, and that without a position from the Public Prosecutor, there is simply no case.

For more than two hours the courtroom was the scene of procedural battles. Balate accused the defence of "time wasting manoeuvres", which were designed to postpone the case to a time when "Metical" may no longer exist.

While it is true that the future of "Metical" is in doubt, this is quite irrelevant to the case. The owners of a company remain liable for acts performed by the company even if the company has subsequently been liquidated.

Cruz denied that she and Matlaba were wasting time. "Everything indicates that the law is being violated by failing to comply with time limits", she said.

The judge, Wilson Dambo, took the defence arguments seriously, and decided to postpone the case sine die "in order to allow a detailed analysis of the matters presented by the defence".

Because of the impending festive season, and holiday plans of some of the lawyers, the case will not resume until 22 January at the earliest.

One remarkable aspect of Monday's proceedings was that the court ordered those present, including reporters, not to make any notes. Thus this article depends on memory and on interviews with the lawyers afterwards.
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Em português:
Caso Nyimpine contra Mosse adiado pela segunda vez