Mozambique: Authorities In Tete Want To Review Extradition Agreement With Malawi

By Jorge Joaquim

 The judicial authorities in Tete are advocating for the revision of the prisoner extradition agreement between Mozambique and Malawi in order to decongest jails in that province, which currently has 92 Malawian citizens in prison, 60 of whom in pre-trial custody.

This incurs costs to the state for food and other essential services, and the current agreement on the transfer of prisoners establishes that a detainee on remand cannot be extradited before trial, said the director of the provincial justice services, Sergio Mature.

Prisons in Tete are holding three times more inmates than their installed capacity, with the provincial director of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs acknowledging the precariousness of the situation

“It’s very worrying in that, just to begin with, there is no space and the cells are overcrowded. People do not sleep properly and the government is worried. We are working with the judiciary, in particular with the courts, to make use of alternatives to prison sentences,” he said.

He said that the province’s jails now held 1,400 detainees, against the 500 they were designed for.