A man whom police regard as a dangerous criminal has escaped from custody by jumping from the window of a courtroom in the central Mozambican city of Beira, reports Tuesday's issue of the Beira daily "Diario de Mocambique".
The man, 21 year old Eugenio Wilse, was taken to court under police guard on Friday morning to formalise his detention on the charge of stealing 30 mobile phones. Under Mozambican legislation, detained persons should be taken before a magistrate within 48 hours of their arrest: the magistrate will then either authorise continued detention or order their release.
Wilse, however, did not wait for the magistrate's decision.
He surprised his police guards by jumping from a first floor window, and then running down the city's main drainage channel.
By Monday he had not been recaptured.
The police regard Wilse as a notorious thief. His arrest came after he had broken into a parked car, and stolen a box full of Nokia mobile phones, valued at 60 million meticais (about 2,500 US dollars).
A police statement said Wilse was arrested thanks to the cooperation of members of the public with the police, and that 22 of the 30 stolen phones were recovered.
Fonte: AIM
