by Our Foreign Desk

THE International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the murder of senior Mozambican journalist Paulo Machava yesterday.

Mr Machava, editor-in-chief of online newspaper Diario de Noticias, was shot in the centre of the capital Maputo between 5.30am and 6am as he was exercising before work.

Unidentified armed men shot him four times — twice in the head and twice in the back — from a car in Vladimir Lenin Avenue, one of the city’s main arteries, before driving away, the IFJ-affiliated National Journalists’ Union said. The motive is unclear.

Media said that Mr Machava was leading a campaign in support of economist Nuno Castel-Branco and journalists Fernando Veloso and Fernando Banze, who are on trial. Mr Castel-Branco faces national security charges, while the two journalists are accused of abusing press freedom.

Their cases arose from Mr Castel-Branco’s open letter to former president Armando Guebuza which was posted on his Facebook page in 2013 and published by the journalists’ media outlets.

The IFJ said Mr Machava was a very well-known journalist who had previously worked for Radio Mozambique and weekly paper Savana. He was a founder member of the Mozambican Journalists Union.

IFJ president Jim Boumelha said: “We urge the authorities to immediately open a fully transparent and rigorous investigation so there will be no impunity for this outrageous murder. Our thoughts are with his loved ones.”