they were accused of slander and defamation. September 2017 ASSAULTED Journalist Luciano da Conceição in Inhambane was attacked when he tried to gather information about an alleged strike by students of a health training institute. His camera, notepad, and telephone were violently taken from him, and he was held hostage. His release was only possible with the intervention of the police. The medical diagnosis concluded that the assault had resulted in bruises on his hand. December 2017 CENSORED Police in Nacala seized the equipment of the Nacala Community Radio journalist, consisting of tape recorder and two mobile phones, while covering the death of a police officer shot by a colleague in Nacala-A-Velha, Nampula. September 2017 CENSORED Mozambican Information Agency (AIM) journalist, Anacleto Mercedes, was forced to leave the hall where Filipe Nyusi, President of the ruling party and of the Republic, delivered the opening address of the XI Congress in the city of Matola. He was taken to the police station next to the Frelimo Party Central School, where he was subjected to interrogation to explain why he was recording the president’s speech. October 2017 THREATENED Journalists from Morrumbene community radio station in Inhambane province were threatened with death by the district police commander, after reporting cases of robbery by a gang that allegedly included a member of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique, attached to the district command. The journalists had to seek refuge outside the town for a few days. December 2017 THREATENED The journalist and editorial director of the Ikweli newspaper, published in Nampula, Aunício Silva, was threatened with death by an unknown man, who pointed a pistol at him, saying that the Ikweli newspaper was undermining the image of the president of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), Daviz Simango, as well as the party candidate in the municipal midterm elections on 24 January. October 2017 THREATENED A journalist of Radio Quelimane FM was sued for reporting, during a sports programme, that the president of the Club of the Port of Quelimane owed salaries to the driver of the club; the president of the club had been contacted twice to give his version, in vain, as he refused to give any clarification.