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Apart from these serious cases, there were also smaller incidents of antagonism towards themedia. In February, threats were made by the mayor of Pemba that he was going to launch legalproceedings against the local Horizonte newspaper for having published an article about animminent strike by the city council’s employees over demands for better working conditions.In an effort to raise awareness about the importance of a truly free press and the need to operatein a threat-free environment, MISA Mozambique met with the General Commander of thePolice, Miguel dos Santos, in January. One of the issues raised with him was that of the abnormalevents surrounding the return to the country of Anibal António dos Santos (‘Anibalzinho’)from Canada, where he was arrested by Interpol.In Maputo in January, Anibal António dos Santos was sentenced to 29 years and 11 months inprison for assassinating journalist Carlos Cardoso in November 2000. Prior to this, the presshad been harassed for trying to cover his return, which was cloaked in secrecy.New media, ‘forced holidays’ and ‘pirate operations’During 2005, there was an increase in the number of mass media operations, especially in thearea of radio broadcasting. Seven community radio stations were inaugurated across the country.Two local radio stations were launched in Gaza province, namely Mabalane CommunityRadio, in the district with the same name, and Radio Verde (Green Radio) in the Chókwèdistrict.Meanwhile, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado the Catholic Church-owned Radio SemFronteiras (Radio without Frontiers) was inaugurated. In Niassa, another northern province,the non-government organisation Ibis inaugurated three community radio stations in Muembe,Maúa and Ngaúma. In the central Tete province, the SIRT Radio was inaugurated.Four newspapers, distributed by fax and e-mail, were launched in 2005. TribunaFax and Folhade Mocambique were launched in Maputo, while Punge graced Beira and Diario da Zambeziawas released in Quelimane.Three newspapers also closed down in the same year: the weekly newspapers Demos andEmbondeiro, and the daily Imparcial, which was owned by high-ranking officials of the mainopposition party, Renamo, and which was distributed by fax and e-mail.Demos, founded in 1994, announced “collective holidays” in mid-2005 for one month. Todate, these “holidays” had still not been concluded and there was no public indication that thenewspaper would be published again.Embondeiro ceased to publish in December after just 14 months of existence. The newspaper’smanagement stated that this was just a temporary stoppage due to paper problems, and that theweekly publication would be back on the streets in a week or two. This failed to materialise,although there are indications that the paper will be relaunched with a new shareholder.In 2005, the press announced the existence of a pirate television channel, which was broadcastingpornographic films from Maputo. The authorities restored order shortly after this wasmade public. Soon after this incident, two new television stations appeared in the capital,namely STV and TV Maná.The desired access to sourcesIn 2005, MISA Mozambique submitted to parliament the Draft Law on the Access to Informa-So This Is Democracy? 2005-77-Media Institute of Southern Africa