It was through a statement, issued on September 19th and signed by the President of the Cabo Delgado Provincial Council of the Mozambique Bar Association (OAM), Fidelino Gumançanze, revealing that “we became aware over the past week, through reports of that the individuals identified by the name of Samissone Emílio Luís and Henrique Muiambo, unduly display the status of Lawyer in the procedural documents as well as present themselves in the hearing and trial rooms dressed in Lawyer's Toga”.
Continuing, the OAM says that “we must inform you that such individuals are not registered with the Mozambique Bar Association, whether as a Lawyer or Trainee Lawyer”.
In the statement, the OAM states that “such conduct, in addition to being reprehensible at the class level, also constitutes a criminal offense foreseen and punished by Articles 343 and 344, both of the Penal Code”.
In view of this, the Provincial Council of Cabo Delgado reported to the competent authorities for the purposes of criminal proceedings and will continue to monitor the progress of the process and provide information that proves useful and timely.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that individuals using false lawyer titles have been reported. Remember that during the highly publicized hidden debts trial, the name of an individual emerged who represented one of the defendants in the PGR, as an “illustrious lawyer” and who was never identified or held responsible.
