New York, June 17, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Mozambican authorities to return the equipment of prominent investigative journalist
Estacio Valoi
and to end the
intimidation
of reporters covering environmental crimes and conflict in northern Cabo Delgado province.
On June 16, three National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) agents went to Valoi’s home in Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado, served him with a judicial order, and confiscated his phones, computers, and tablets, the journalist told CPJ. The May 25 search warrant issued by Pemba City Judicial Court, reviewed by CPJ, did not detail why Valoi’s personal and work equipment was being seized.
Valoi
said in December
that he was facing a “coordinated offensive” of intimidation over his
reporting
on timber smuggling in Cabo Delgado where the government has been fighting an Islamic State-linked
insurgency
since 2017.
“Journalists in Cabo Delgado already face extraordinary risks reporting on conflict, corruption and environmental crimes without adding judicial harassment to their safety fears,” said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal. “Mozambican authorities must return Estacio Valoi’s equipment that is essential to his work and ensure journalists can do their jobs freely and safely.
Valoi, who has reported for over a
decade
on
natural resource
issues, is editor of the news site
Moz24h
, which is known for its coverage of corruption, conflict, and environmental crimes in Mozambique.
Valoi said one of the officers who seized his equipment on June 16 told him that the judge wanted him to
remove
an August 2025
report
about the seizure of illegal timber exports belonging to Safi Timber. The article was one of several
reports
by Valoi about the
plunder
of Cabo Delgado’s Quirimbas National Park, which has been nominated for United Nations
world heritage
status.
On April 23, the general prosecutor declared Valoi an
arguido
, a Portuguese legal term me
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