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28.08.2015 Africa

Mozambican journalist shot dead in drive-by attack

By AFP
Paulo Machava was gunned down while taking a jog along a Maputo street.  By Alexander Joe AFPPaulo Machava was gunned down while taking a jog along a Maputo street. By Alexander Joe (AFP)
28.08.2015 LISTEN

Maputo (AFP) - A veteran Mozambican crime journalist was killed in a drive-by shooting in downtown Maputo on Friday in an attack that echoed the murder of a prominent lawyer six months ago.

Paulo Machava, publisher of the online Diario de Noticias, was gunned down while taking his daily morning jog along one of the capital's main streets.

"A group of armed individuals fatally shot Paulo Machava before fleeing," police spokesman Arnaldo Chefe told a news conference.

The gunmen, who was driving a white pick-up truck, fired between four and six shots before speeding off, according to preliminary police investigations.

Street vendors who witnessed the attack confirmed to AFP that the shots were fired from a vehicle.

Machava, who was in his 50s, had previously worked for the independent weekly Savana and for state radio.

The style of killing was similar to that in early March of Gilles Cistac, a naturalised Mozambican citizen of French origin and a constitutional law expert who was highly critical of the government.

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