Former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane has submitted a new complaint to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), accusing agents of the Mozambique Police (PRM) and the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) of continued and aggravated acts of violence against his supporters, despite the call for national peace issued in March.
In the complaint, dated 15 May, Mondlane states that ‘instead of the expected easing of violence’ after the meeting with Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on 23 March, ‘there has been a continuation – and even an escalation – of attacks against our members and political structures.’
This is the third formal complaint submitted to the PGR since the 2024 general elections, in which Mondlane came second and refused to recognise the official results. In the document, the politician laments what he considers ‘a tragic irony’ after the symbolic gesture of reconciliation with Chapo, marked by a public handshake, interpreted by many as a sign of political détente.
According to Mondlane, 23 new incidents have been recorded since March, bringing the number of documented cases of violence against members of his political project to 436. Among the most serious incidents are the beheading of a supporter in Inhambane province, the kidnapping and shooting of Zavala’s local coordinator, and the attack on musician Joel Amaral, his national campaign director, who was shot on 13 April in Quelimane.
The politician accuses President Chapo of inciting violence
In his letter to the Attorney General, Américo Letela, and the Minister of the Interior, Paulo Chachine, Mondlane demands the immediate opening of criminal investigations against the agents and those ‘materially and morally’ responsible for the acts of murder, political persecution, torture and destruction of property.
The politician also accuses President Chapo of inciting violence, referring to a previous complaint that has not yet received a formal response from the Attorney General’s Office. ‘Curiously, the proceedings against me and other opposition leaders are proceeding normally, but our complaints have not been followed up,’ he criticises.
Given the seriousness of the situation, he also requests guarantees of effective protection for victims, witnesses and their families, and calls for the intervention of national and international human rights organisations to independently monitor the investigations.
It should be recalled that since the general elections, the country has experienced a climate of post-election tension marked by demonstrations called by Mondlane, which, according to civil society organisations, have resulted in around 400 deaths and the destruction of public and private property.
The March meeting between Mondlane and Chapo was publicly presented as a gesture of reconciliation and national pacification, but according to the politician, acts of repression continue to occur, undermining public confidence in the justice and security institutions.
Source: Lusa
