Maputo, Mozambique, 04/15 - The Maputo City Court has sentenced Osvaldo Tembe, a former Mozambican journalist with the weekly "Zambeze" newspaper, to eight months in jail for blackmail and extortion.
National news agency, AIM reported Friday that Tembe was expelled from Zambeze in mid-March, after the paper`s management accused him of receiving money in exchange for suppressing a story.
Tembe reportedly confessed to the crime, which arose from a story he wrote in February concerning a theft from the Mozambican government`s Fisheries Fund (FFP), involving the Fund`s financial director, Eduardo Silia, currently in detention.
After the article was published, Silia`s son contacted Tembe and protested against the article, and requested a blackout on the alleged theft.
The court heard that Tembe demanded for bribe in order to suppress the story, and that the Silia family reported the matter to the newspaper, and along with the family the case was reported to the police.
Tempe was arrested by the police when Silia brought what was supposed to be the last instalment of the bribe to the Zambeze office on 14 March.
