The Pemba court acquitted 14 protesters detained during the protests on 21 October in Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique, called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.
In reading out the sentence, the judge in the case, Madalena Sidumo, explained that the protesters were accused of bodily harm against state figures during the protests against the election results and the murder, in an ambush in Maputo, of Venâncio Mondlane’s lawyer, Elvino Dias, and the national representative of Podemos, Paulo Guambe, the party that supported his presidential candidacy in the general elections on 9 October.
Specifically, the suspects were arrested by the Police of the Republic of Mozambique for allegedly throwing stones and other objects at public buildings and state vehicles and coercing public servants during the demonstration on 21 October. This demonstration was similar to the protests called by Venâncio Mondlane, which took place all over the country but had an epicentre in Maputo.
However, the Pemba court concluded that the state institutions and vehicles allegedly vandalised during the protest had not been identified and considered the crimes unproven.
‘The second section of the judicial court of the city of Pemba, in the name of the Republic of Mozambique and the law, decides to dismiss the prosecution’s accusation, which was not proven, and consequently acquit the co-accused,’ said judge Madalena Sidumo, during the reading of the judgement on Monday.
On 21 October, the Police of the Republic of Mozambique used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators in Pemba who were responding to presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane’s call for peaceful marches.
The candidate’s supporters, who had gathered in the morning, tried to close 25 de Setembro Avenue, the main avenue in Pemba, with barricades, specifically in the Cariacó neighbourhood.
‘We will be ensuring that all Mozambicans are safe, even the rebels,’ a police officer on the ground told Lusa that day.
The police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators, but they returned to the same place hours later, forcing the officers to stay.
‘We are here to impose order and security; nobody will be killed or hit; it’s rubber bullets and tear gas to control the situation,’ said another officer, who did not want to be identified.
Protesters holding placards with phrases such as ‘people in power, hand over power to the real winner’ threw stones at the police.
The demonstrations that day – which then continued on 24 and 25 October – were called for throughout the country by Mozambique’s presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, supported by the Podemos party, which is claiming victory in the elections on 9 October 2024.
Lusa
