Mozambique: At least 14 more people killed in two days of election protests
Mozambique: Emotion and cries of “justice” at the farewell of the “people’s lawyer”
3:37 CAT | 24 Oct 2024
Photo: Luisa Nhantumbo / Lusa
All afternoon, at the Michafutene cemetery on the outskirts of Maputo, cries of “justice” and “the people’s lawyer” were shouted at the emotional farewell for Elvino Dias, 45 years old, legal advisor to presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.
Vasco Sumboleite made a point of saying goodbye to “Doctor Elvino”, one of the two top aides of Venâncio Mondlane who were shot dead in an ambush in Maputo on Friday.
“Much more than being a lawyer for other people, for individuals, he was a lawyer for the people. In recent times he dedicated himself to defending the rights of the people, which is why the people recognised this. Which is why the people will demand justice.”
Holding in his hand two books about the challenges and problems of Mozambique, Nasmodino Omar protested the “macabre act” at the gates of the cemetery, which was too small for the huge crowd attending.
“We want justice for our lawyer,” he said. “Our country has no justice, so it will not be done. But the people will seek justice, no matter what the cost.”
Standing next to him, Frida Liberdade said her goodbye in tears, crying: “Our father, defender of the nation.”
“He defended his country and did not care about death. He did everything knowing that one day he would be killed, but he still went ahead until his last day. He inspired us a lot, he left a legacy, and we will not give up,” she said.
Even while saying goodbye, Frida confessed to a “feeling of sadness and joy” for the lawyer, known for his intervention in the defence of human rights causes and, more recently, in politics.
“We had a father, we had a young man, a lawyer who was the people’s lawyer. Above all, he taught us that we have to defend our rights without worrying about tomorrow,” she said, pledging that “justice will be done”.
A nearly endless procession of motorbikes, cars and people of all ages shouting Dias’ name marked the funeral procession that left the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, the site of the wake, taking about 40 minutes to reach the Michafutene cemetery, on the outskirts of Maputo.
“We have lost a top comrade in our organisation because he defended the ideals of democracy, the ideals of justice, the ideals of law, and because of that he became the people’s lawyer. Because these values are the structuring values of a state,” Chairman of the Mozambican Bar Association Carlos Martins told Lusa.
Representing the Bar Association, Martins himself gave the eulogy.
“There was no way not to effectively dissociate its activity from what it was intended to do, taking into account the useful recipient, which is the people. Justice is, in fact, one of the rights that are promised in a nation,” Martins stressed.
On a day marked by the demand for justice for Friday’s double homicide and cries of “people in power”, the president of the Bar Association admitted his fear that this justice would not arrive.
“We are afraid, especially because the past shows us that we have several murders that have never been solved. And many are solved in terms of the perpetrators, but the moral perpetrators never appear. This is the problem,” said Martins, arguing that the crime was an “attack on democracy”.
“It was, without a doubt. On democracy, on the legal profession, on the independence of the legal profession, on the essential pillars of a state governed by the rule of law. It was, without a doubt,” he said, flanked at the cemetery by dozens of lawyers.
In his eulogy, Judge Jafete Fremo, vice-president of the Mozambican Association of Judges, described Elvino Dias as a “lawyer for the afflicted”.
“Elvino Dias’ voice has been silenced. However, the Mozambican Association of Judges will not remain silent, will not remain silent in relation to this murder,” he said, recalling the defence regarding the murder of judges in which the lawyer was involved in the past.
Venâncio Mondlane was not present at the funeral, having earlier said he was remaining “in an undisclosed location” because of security concerns, but Lutero Simango, another of the four presidential candidates in the October 9 elections, and leader of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM, the third parliamentary party), was present.
Lutero Simango was there, he explained, “to set an example that there is still the possibility of building a Mozambique of dialogue, of tolerance, and of promoting public policies that can solve the basic problems of our population”.
Simango also commented on the call that has been made for the opposition in Mozambique to unite. “This call has its legitimacy,” he said. “Now, it is up to us, the politicians, to understand, perceive and accept this call.”
Dozens of people had gathered earlier in the day at the funeral chapel of Maputo Central Hospital for the wake of Paulo Guambe, leader of the Podemos party, which supports Venâncio Mondlane, the other victim of the double homicide, whose funeral in Inhambane is taking place thisThursday.
Source: Lusa
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