Mozambican journalists cleared of corruption charges

Two Mozambican journalists arrested last week for alleged corruption in central Sofala province have been set free.

Arsénio Sebastião, who works for German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and Jorge Malangaze were last week accused of receiving bribes from a hotel owner so as not to publish photos of people breaking coronavirus safety measures at the premises.

The pair denied wrongdoing.

Ernesto Nhanale, of the press freedom body Misa, which sponsored legal assistance to the journalists, announced their release.

He said the court found that the journalists did not take a bribe and there was no evidence of alleged blackmail.

He said the arrests of the journalists had other motivations that should be investigated.