Mozambique Elections: "We could be burying ourselves" - Araújo
Pics: Police justify use of force against MDM Gurue march – Mozambique Elections, AIM report
9:42 CAT | 02 Oct 2018
Photos: Gabinete Eleitoral do MDM Delegação de Gurué / Facebook
The Mozambican police in the central province of Zambezia have admitted that they used rubber bullets and tear gas against an election campaign parade of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) in the municipality of Gurue on Saturday.
Speaking at a press conference in the provincial capital, Quelimane, on Monday, the spokesperson for the Zambezia provincial police command, Miguel Caetano, claimed that the incident occurred because the MDM disobeyed previously agreed rules.
“MDM members and sympathisers tried to divert their march away from the agreed route in order to collide with a parade of the Frelimo Party”, he said. “But thanks to the prompt intervention of the police, it was possible to restore order”.
He claimed that the police had to use rubber bullets and tear gas in order to avoid a tragedy.
Eye-witnesses, cited by the “Mozambique Political Process Bulletin”, published by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), give a somewhat different account. According to the Bulletin, the MDM march was very large and blocked the centre of the town in front of the Gurue Cinema.
The MDM runs the Gurue Municipal council, and clearly enjoys substantial support in the town. “The main road was blocked and police could not clear space”, the Bulletin said. “Police appealed to MDM leaders to clear the square but that proved impossible. Police then fired shots and tear gas to disperse the crowd. The crowd responded by throwing stones at the police”.
False reports then appeared on social media, notably WhatsApp, claiming that the police had shot and killed three people.
Caetano also denied claims by the main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, that the police are intimidating political parties by carrying military grade weapons. Renamo was referring to AK-47 assault rifles, which are standard issue to the Mozambican police.
“It’s legitimate for the police to carry these weapons. It’s in the law”, said Caetano. “We don’t see anything inconvenient in using these instruments to protect people and property”.
Source: AIM
Show comments
Also read
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.