Mozambique: Five killed and 26 arrested during election campaign period – police

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Mozambique: Five killed and 26 arrested during election campaign period – police

2:31 CAT | 09 Oct 2018

Inácio Dina / File photo

Five people were killed and 26 arrested during the 13-day local election campaign in Mozambique, police spokesman Inacio Dina said on Monday.

“These occurrences are related to a road accident that resulted in two pedestrian deaths [they were run over], the case of a sympathiser who was electrocuted while gluing a poster on an electricity pole and another crash against a fixed obstacle where two more people were killed,” Inácio Dina told a press conference covering the campaign period.

The 26 arrests are mostly linked to members of political parties defying the authorities.

The most serious case occurred in Tete on Sunday, the last day of the campaign, when police invaded the headquarters of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition party, allegedly to rescue three members of the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo, the ruling party) after violent clashes between supporters of the rival political forces.

“The police had to go and rescue the three individuals who were being held, one of them a 13-year-old teenager,” Dina said. The corporation was obliged to fire rubber bullets and use tear gas during the course of the operation, in which 12 people were arrested and 13 others were injured.

Despite this news, the Mozambican police gave the election campaign a positive assessment and again called on members of all political parties to act civilly.

“We want to appeal to the consciousness all political formations, parties and groups of citizen voters to take responsibility for raising awareness among their supporters, so that they distance themselves from acts that could challenge public order,” Dina said.

Mozambique’s municipal elections take place on Wednesday.

Source: Lusa