Mozambican opposition lawyer shot dead

The lawyer of a prominent Mozambican opposition figure was shot dead in the capital, Maputo, along with an official from the same party.

Elvino Dias was the lawyer for Venâncio Mondlane, a candidate for the presidency of Mozambique on behalf of the political party Podemos in the elections ten days ago.

Dias died along with Paulo Guambe, another Podemos official, when gunmen attacked their car.

“They were brutally murdered (in a) cold-blooded murder,” said local rights organization the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD).

“Everything suggests that around 10 to 15 bullets were fired and that they died instantly,” said the group’s director, Adriano Nuvunga.

Another organization, election watchdog Mais Integridade, said the killings were aimed at intimidating anyone calling for transparency in the elections.

One of the victims, Dias, died instantly, but witnesses say the other, Guambe, succumbed to his injuries a few hours later, and claim that the police blocked his evacuation by an ambulance that arrived on the scene to help them.

Witnesses also claim that police engaged in censorship and intimidation, preventing them from recording the violent scene and confiscating and damaging several phones.

Police denied any wrongdoing and said they would take all necessary measures to prevent any acts of vandalism, violence or public disorder in the coming days.

“Of course, we condemn this heinous crime and ensure that we take all measures to clarify this matter,” police spokesperson Lionel Muchina said on Saturday.

Tributes have been paid to Dias, described by the Carta de Moçambique news site as a “wise, intrepid lawyer, with the tough fiber of a fighter”.

“Elvino was a good and peaceful man,” said Zenaido Machado of Human Rights Watch.

“Last year during the local elections, he led several electoral cases against the electoral commission and he won. This year he was preparing to do it again.”

Electoral votes are still being counted in Mozambique. Mondlane says he won and disputes claims by the establishment party, Frelimo, that he is in the lead. He called for a national strike on Monday.

The European Union, whose observer mission is in Mozambique to monitor the electoral process, called the killings a scandalous crime and urged the government to conduct an independent investigation.

The European bloc said the events followed “worrying reports of a violent dispersal of supporters in the aftermath of last week’s elections.”

Western observers have questioned the credibility of the election.

Vote buying, voter roll expansion in Frelimo strongholds and voter intimidation were reported by the US-based International Republican Institute, which sent a multinational election observation mission in Mozambique.

Mozambique has only ever been governed by one party – Frelimo – which has ruled the southern African country for half a century since its independence from Portugal.

The country is guaranteed a new president as President Filipe Nyusi resigns after serving the two term limit.

His successor, the leader of Frelimo, is Daniel Chapo, 47 years old.

His rivals in this election are Mondlane of Podemos, Ossufo Momade, the former rebel commander turned leader of the main opposition party Renamo, and Lutero Simango of the Mozambique Democratic Movement.

A civil war between the Frelimo government, supported by Cuba and the USSR, and the anti-communist rebels of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) took place from 1977 to 1992.

The conflict resulted in the deaths of more than a million people in fighting and subsequent famines.

Renamo remains Mozambique’s largest opposition party and was the springboard for Mondlane’s political career before he defected to the new Podemos party earlier this year.

Mozambique is rich in natural resources, including rubies and gas, but is also battling an Islamist insurgency in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, where soldiers from dozens of countries have been deployed to help.

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