"NOBODY HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE ANOTHER'S LIFE"

Nobody has the right to take the life of another citizen, regardless of the motive, declared Mozambican Justice Minister Benvinda Levi, on Monday.She was speaking in the central city of Chimoio, at a meeting with community and religious leaders, and other representatives of civil society, called to discuss the problem of people taking the law into their own hands and lynching those whom they believed to be criminalsAccording to a report in Wednesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, Levi found that her audience made excuses for lynchings, claiming that the people were fed up with seeing the police release individuals whom they believed to be criminals. They said that, once out of jail, the supposed criminals commit new crimes.The people then took the law into their own hands “solving one crime by committing another, and using violence to end violence”. Lynching was the alternative found to reduce the levels of crime and “end the impunity of delinquents”.Levi was less than impressed with such arguments. She stressed that “freeing prisoners is a normal act within the legal process. Once a person has served his sentence, then obviously he has to be released”.“So you don’t want to see anyone released”, she told her audience. “But I tell you that anyone who goes into prison also comes out”. One day “it might be us, and we will need to be set free when we have been acquitted or have served our sentences”.People accused of petty theft and other minor offences are often released and told to await trial at home – this tends to be interpreted as “corruption” or “impunity”. Indeed, the police are only allowed to hold suspects for 48 hours (although this time limit is often disrespected) before presenting them to a magistrate who must decided whether they should remain in detention or not.“We should not think it strange when someone leaves jail and goes back to his family”, said Levi. “Those who go in also come out, and this is normal in any part of the world”.Furthermore, judges often released suspects because the police presented no convincing evidence against them. “All suspects enjoy the benefit of the doubt, and the presumption that they are innocent until proven guilty”, said Levi. “So nobody can be jailed without charge, and without evidence of the crimes they are accused of. It is better to let a bandit go, than throw an innocent person in jail”.Those who were dissatisfied with a court decision, should attempt to have it reversed by a higher court, and never resort to taking the law into their own hands, she stressed