Alex BARGA

After nine months of unlawful detention on tramped-up charges, Mozambican writer, editor, publisher and political activist Alex Barga was acquitted and freed by the Maputo City Judicial Court on 15 September 2025. The court dismissed charges of “conspiracy to commit crimes against state security, violent alteration of the rule of law, and criminal association.”  Earlier, on 8 September, the same court had declared the charge of ‘planning a coup d’ état’ a ‘total nullity’ for lack of evidence. 

Barga had been detained since he was arbitrarily arrested on 12 January 2025 in the context of a nation-wide crackdown on dissent after the disputed October 2024 elections. He was held at the Cadeia Civil Prison in the capital Maputo, awaiting trial on a trumped-up charge of ‘planning a coup d’etat’.   

PEN International believes that Barga’s persecution was in retaliation for his role in the publication of the book Um Olhar Sociológico Sobre o Carisma de Venâncio Mondlane (A sociological approach to the charisma of Venâncio Mondlane) ,authored by the Mozambican sociologist, Mártir das Letras, and called for his release. Venâncio was the main opposition presidential candidate in Mozambique’s 9 October 2024 national elections.  The book was edited and promoted by LitterArte Edições, a section of the literary agency, Agência Literária Alex Barga which Barga owns.  He was part of a team that planned the launch of the book on 7 October 2024, which the Mozambique Prosecutor’s Office ordered to be cancelled without explanation. Barga and his colleagues disregarded the arbitrary order and continued to promote the book on a pavement close to the hotel where the launch had been planned.   

Alex Barga is the author of six books, including Leis do Amor (The Laws of Love), a poetry collection.