A Maputo court has again refused to release several former senior managers of LAM – Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, leaving them in pre-trial detention as corruption proceedings move ahead in Mozambique’s capital. The latest hearing on 25 August upheld an earlier decision that kept the executives in custody, including former managing director João Pó Jorge, who faces 31 financial and corruption charges.
The detainees have been held since February over allegations of mismanagement, embezzlement, fraud, abuse of office and related financial offences at the state-owned carrier. The court also maintained its 8 August ruling rejecting defence requests to replace detention with lighter measures such as identity-and-residence orders or bail.
The case forms part of a wider crackdown on governance failures at LAM, which has come under intense scrutiny over public-sector accountability and the handling of airline funds. Reporting in Maputo has indicated that the proceedings remain focused on a wider group of former officials, although the full court reasoning and the next procedural date have not been made clear.