Mozambique police detain over 100 protesters

MAPUTO, Mozambique

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a prominent Mozambican NGO, has announced that the Police detained, on Monday, across the country, over one hundred people for allegedly being involved in disturbances during the “national general strike”, called by the independent presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, against the murder of prominent opposition lawyer Elvino Dias, and Paulo Guambe, election agent of the Podemos party.

According to a statement from the CDD, the largest number of detainees, about 75, were held in the central province of Tete.

“After Tete, comes the northern province of Nampula with 24 cases, Maputo City with 20, the central city of Beira with three and the central province of Zambézia with four. The figures were obtained through complaints and mapping work at police stations carried out by representatives of the CDD in all the provinces”, reads the statement.

If these figures are accurate, then in five provinces (Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Niassa and Cabo Delgado) nobody at all was detained.

According to the note, the detainees face charges related to offences against public order, but some of them were provisionally released.

“Despite the release, the court ruled that judicial proceedings against seven individuals in Nampula will continue, with the next hearing scheduled for Wednesday”, it says.

The document explains that the detainees are being released thanks to the intervention of the Mozambican Bar Association and CDD.

“For example, yesterday seven young people were released by the law court of the Kamaxaquene Municipal District in Maputo. The decision followed the intervention of the CDD and Bar Association, who acted as the defenders of the accused”, said the note.

The CDD called for monitoring and documentation of detentions, ensuring that justice prevails “in an increasingly challenging environment for democracy in Mozambique.”

“The CDD action reflects a firm commitment to the defense of human rights at a time of growing repression. The work of the institutions involved denotes the importance of legal assistance in the context of the violation of rights and the need to ensure that all citizens can exercise their fundamental freedoms”, reads the document.