Mozambique: Alleged terrorist recruiter released

The Mozambican police have released 39 year old Joseph Adremane Kumucho, who had initially been accused of recruiting young men to join the islamist terrorists waging war in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Tuesday's issue of the independent newssheet "Carta de Mocambique" reports that Kumucho was arrested by the defence and security forces on Saturday in Mueda district, and then transferred to Montepuez in the southern part of Cabo Delgado.

The newsheet's sources say that Kumucho was released after his family and friends convinced the authorities that they had arrested the wrong man.

Failure to gather sufficient evidence has been a recurrent problem for the police in Cabo Delgado, and is why many of those charged with terrorist offences have been released. In six trials held in the provincial capital, Pemba, 130 alleged terrorists were acquitted and 126 were convicted.

They were sentenced to prison terms of between two to 40 years for crimes against state security, against state organisation, for instigating violence and collective disobedience, and possession of prohibited weapons.

Most of those convicted are Mozambicans but they also include citizens of Somalia, Tanzania and Burundi.

This article originally appeared on Club of Mozambique

Photo: Carta de Moçambique