Seven people including police officers buried alive in Mozambique

MAPUTO, Mozambique

A judge in Mozambique has legalised the preventive detention of nine individuals suspected of having tortured and buried alive seven citizens for their alleged involvement in cattle theft, a spokesman for the Maputo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed to Radio Mozambique.

Jorge Chivinge added that the decision, in the preparatory investigation phase of the case, comes at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office says it was pressured by family members to allow the victims to respond to the process in freedom, but decided that, due to the complexity of the case, it would be better to continue the investigations with the individuals concerned in detention.

Meanwhile, locating the bodies of two of those tortured and buried alive in Maluana remains a challenge. The Provincial Attorney’s Office says that the local population is failing to cooperate in the location and identification of the two bodies.

Of the seven individuals tortured and buried alive, three were agents of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM). - Rádio Moçambique