Podemos occasion’s lawyer Elvino Dias and occasion consultant Paulo Guambe killed earlier than protests in opposition to the disputed vote.
Gunmen in Mozambique have killed a number one opposition politician’s lawyer and one other opposition official, in accordance with their occasion, earlier than protests in opposition to a disputed election consequence.
The attackers chased the automobile of Podemos occasion’s lawyer Elvino Dias and occasion consultant Paulo Guambe and fatally shot them late on Friday evening within the capital Maputo, the occasion stated on Saturday.
Movies on social media confirmed a BMW SUV in the course of the street with quite a few bullet holes within the bodywork. A number of the movies confirmed what seemed to be the our bodies of two males, one with blood on his chest, within the entrance seats. The opposite physique was slumped over.
The killings got here with tensions already excessive within the southern African nation because it waits for the outcomes of an October 9 election that has drawn extra allegations of vote-rigging and clamping down on dissent in opposition to the 49-year rule of the Entrance for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) occasion.
Podemos has rejected provisional outcomes displaying a win for Frelimo and referred to as for a nationwide strike on Monday. Though Venancio Mondlane ran for president as an impartial, he was supported by Podemos.
The killings are “additional clear proof of the dearth of justice that we’re all subjected to”, Podemos acknowledged.
“They have been brutally assassinated [in a] cold-blooded homicide,” Adriano Nuvunga, director of Mozambique’s Middle for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), advised the Reuters information company by phone.
“The indication [is] that round 10 to fifteen bullets have been shot, they usually died immediately.”
Human Rights Watch additionally issued an announcement confirming the assault.
Based on the most recent election tally, Frelimo is main in all 11 provinces and its candidate Daniel Chapo is broadly anticipated to win the election. Chapo is predicted to be introduced as successor to President Filipe Nyusi, who has served a most of two phrases.
Podemos and different opposition events have accused Frelimo of electoral fraud. Western observers have additionally forged doubt on the polls, citing stories of vote-buying, intimidation, and inflated voter rolls in Frelimo strongholds.
Mozambique has struggled with these points since Frelimo first launched democracy in 1994 after 20 years in energy. The election’s ultimate outcomes are anticipated on October 24, however there are fears Monday’s protest may very well be violent.
Mozambique’s safety forces have opened hearth on political protesters up to now, together with after final 12 months’s native elections, in accordance with rights teams.
Nuvunga, the NGO director, wrote on social media that the killing of Dias was a “political assassination”.
