Mozambique’s leading opposition candidate has accused the police of firing live bullets at demonstrators during protests against the results of the southern African nation’s recent presidential election.
Venancio Mondlane’s allegations of electoral fraud on Tuesday come amid rising tensions in Mozambique, where preliminary results from the October 9 presidential vote show the ruling party leading.
Police fired tear gas at Mondlane and his supporters as he addressed reporters during the demonstration he had organized in the capital Maputo on Monday, according to a video posted on his Facebook page.
Reuters said officers shot handguns at the protesters, who had gathered at a spot where the politician’s lawyer, Elvino Dias, had been shot and killed over the weekend, along with Paulo Guambe, a spokesperson of their party, Podemos.
Local outlet Club of Mozambique reported that police had charged at dozens of people in an attempt to disperse the crowd, which responded by throwing stones and setting fire to tires on the street.
“The police did an outrageous thing, which was to use real bullets,” the independent candidate backed by the Podemos party claimed in a live video on Facebook.
Adriano Nuvunga, director of Mozambique’s Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CCD), said two journalists and a security guard were hit by bullets but were not severely injured. Nuvunga described the incident as an “alarming escalation in violence and repression.”
“The murder of key figures in Mondlane’s team and the use of force against peaceful demonstrators raise critical concerns about the protection of civil liberties, freedom of the press, and the space for opposition voices in the country,” he stated.
Sixteen people “who were victims of the riots” were admitted to the emergency unit of Maputo Central Hospital, state broadcaster TVM reported, citing authorities.
Six people were arrested, according to police spokesperson Orlando Mudumane, who had earlier warned that authorities would take measures to prevent any “acts of violence, vandalism, and public disorder” in the aftermath of the national elections.
CCD director Nuvunga has called for international support to protect democracy and justice in the resource-rich country, “amidst the rising wave of fear and violence” ahead of the election results announcement this week.
Opposition leaders, including Mondlane, have accused the Frelimo Party, which has ruled the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975, of rigging the election. Early results show Frelimo Party candidate Daniel Chapo as the winner, with Mondlane coming in second.