Mozambique police disperse opposition protests after election
Police of Mozambique Patrol the streets, Oct 22, 2024 Photo: @Dispatch_DD
October 22, 2024 Hour: 5:04 pm
Mozambican police fired tear gas and bullets on Monday at protesters in the capital Maputo. The protesters had gathered at the scene of the shooting deaths of two opposition party figures last Saturday after a disputed election.
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Some of the police officers fired with their pistols as they dispersed the crowd. Adriano Nuvonga, director of the Mozambican Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, said two journalists and a security guard were hit by bullets but were not seriously injured.
Hundreds of people took part in the protest, with some burning red Frelimo flags in the street, while throwing stones.
The police spokesman did not deliver any comments.
Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who ran for president, had called a general strike to challenge early results that showed the ruling Frelimo party ahead. Shops were closed in Maputo and helicopters hovered over the city of about a million people.
Mondlane, who has already declared victory, said his call for a nationwide protest on Monday had been a “great success.” “The country is paralyzed… 95% of private and public services across the country are paralyzed,” he wrote on Facebook.
Full results from Mozambique’s Oct. 9 national election are expected this week, with preliminary results showing the ruling Frelimo party poised for another victory.
Opposition candidates say the vote was rigged.
Frelimo has ruled the southern African country since 1975 and has been accused by opposition leaders, civil society and election monitors of rigging the vote, which the party denies.
Mozambique’s electoral commission declined to comment on the fraud allegations. Observers said the vote did not meet international standards for democratic elections, citing reports of vote-buying, intimidation, inflated voter rolls and other issues.
Tensions and condemnations Tensions rose over the weekend after two aides to opposition candidate Mondlane were shot dead in Maputo.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: EFE-Africanews
