Mozambique Elections: Court frees 17 election protestors in Maputo – Lusa | Watch

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Mozambique Elections: Court frees 17 election protestors in Maputo – Lusa | Watch

7:29 CAT | 31 Oct 2023

Photo via Adriano Nuvunga on Facebook

The Maputo City Judicial Court on Tuesday ordered the release of the 17 people arrested on Friday during the demonstrations against the 11 October election results, considering that there was “no legal type of crime”.

“The judge concluded that there was no legal offence by these young people,” Víctor da Fonseca, a lawyer, told the media outside the Maputo City Court.

The demonstrators, mainly young people, were arrested during the Friday protest promoted by the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) to contest the election results announced by the National Elections Commission (CNE ) the day before.

READ: Mozambican Bar Association says CNE/STAE “sent message that crime pays” – CIP Mozambique Elections

“The judge used the law and saw that naturally there were no conditions to keep these young people in detention,” added Victor da Fonseca.

The demonstrators, including Renamo sympathisers and informal traders, were trying to move along Avenida 24 de Julho when confusion broke out, with the authorities firing tear gas.

At a press conference on the same Friday, the police justified their response and the arrests by the need to maintain “public order and tranquillity”, saying that the demonstrators had thrown blunt objects and vandalised infrastructure, as well as blocking roads.

READ: Mozambique Elections: Police says over 10 injured, 70 detained in election protests – in Nampula, Nacala, Maputo and Quelimane

Mozambique Elections: Police says Renamo used home-made bombs and hit UIR officer in Nampula; at least 101arrested and 9 agents injured in Nampula and Nacala – O País

Speaking to Lusa today outside the court, Pedro Arrone, one of the young people who was detained, described an “inhuman situation” at the police station where he had been held since Friday.

“We were sleeping on the floor, without a blanket, and we had no food. What happens in our prisons is deplorable,” said Pedro Arrone, 25.

Data provided by the authorities showed that more than 100 people have been arrested in various parts of the country, especially in the cities of Nampula, Nacala-Porto and Maputo, where the demonstrations and skirmishes took place, and criminal proceedings are underway “for the damage caused and the destabilisation of public order” in those municipalities.

The main opposition party has held marches to contest the results of the 11 October elections, attracting thousands of people who denounce alleged “mega-fraud” in the ballot.

Mozambique’s sixth local elections took place in 65 municipalities on 11 October, including 12 new municipalities which went to the polls for the first time.

The results presented by Mozambique’s CNE on Thursday (26 October) indicate a victory for the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) in 64 of the country’s 65 municipalities, while the MDM, the third largest party, won in Beira.

According to Mozambican electoral legislation, the results of the ballot still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council (CC).

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Source: Lusa