The Criminal Investigation Police (PIC) in the Northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, are demanding Journalist Jonas Wazir to reveal his sources for a story published in April 2009 that angered local military officers. Wazir, a correspondent for the Beira paper "Diario de Mocambique", has refused to comply arguing that police demand is illegal. Despite being According to a report by Maputo daily “Noticias”, the article published under Wazir’s name on 21 April 2009, concerned illicit charges made by officers in the military recruitment centre in the Cabo Delgados provincial capital, Pemba. At turning 18 years old all Mozambique citizens have a legal obligation to register for military service. Wazir discovered that some military officers were charging young Mozambicans 50 meticais (U$2) registration fee each, for a service that is free of charge. In his article, Wazir mentioned the name of one of the recruiting officers, Dinis Mirole. On 4 May, Mirole burst into the school where Wazir is a part time teacher and threatened him. “The consequences that will flow from the story you wrote will be entirely your responsibility”, he threatened. Mirole complained to the local prosecutor’s office, and for the past three weeks PIC has been harassing Wazir, demanding to know the names of his sources.
The 1991 press law explicitly defends the right of journalists not to reveal their sources. The clause reads: “It is recognized that journalists have a right of professional secrecy with regard to the origins of the information that they transmit or broadcast, and they shall not suffer any sanctions for remaining silent”. MISA-Mozambique has denounced the “illegal intimidation of journalists”, and has urged Wazir not to give in to the demands.