Mozambique: Former police chief questioned for eight hours, no charges

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Mozambique: Former police chief questioned for eight hours, no charges

12:58 CAT | 08 Jul 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only . [File photo: Lusa]

Former Mozambican police commander Bernardino Rafael was questioned at the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) for eight hours this Monday in a case involving post-election violence, but has not been charged, a source close to the case told Lusa.

Bernardino Rafael arrived at the PGR headquarters in Maputo at around 9:00 am (8:00 am local time) and left the building after 5:00 pm, unseen by journalists waiting for him outside.

A source close to the case told Lusa that Bernardino Rafael was questioned, but that he has not been charged and no coercive measures have been applied to him by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PGR).

The same source added that this was an “initial hearing”, in which other parties will also be heard, and that only afterwards can any indictments be made or coercive measures applied.

Civil society organisations said on Monday that the hearing of the former commander of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) at the Public Prosecutor’s Office is an “important step” in guaranteeing human rights.

“It shows Mozambican citizens that no one is above the law and everyone has access to justice. The fact that the Decide Platform submitted this case means that, in the event of impunity, anyone can automatically do the same,” social activist Wilker Dias, director of that institution, one of the non-governmental organisations that submitted a complaint against the former PRM commander, told Lusa.

Bernardino Rafael, who has since retired, was dismissed from his position as commander-general of the PRM on January 23 by the new President of the Republic, about a week after Daniel Chapo was sworn into office.

Activist Wilker Dias said he hopes that, in addition to being held criminally responsible, the former police commander will be barred from holding public office “due to the violation of one of the articles of the penal code that mentions the issue of abuse of office or function.”

“The expectation is that after Bernardino Rafael is heard, the case will move forward and more quickly with a view to serving justice, and justice on our side would automatically mean holding the families who lost their loved ones accountable and subsequently compensating them,” he added.

Activist André Mulungo, from the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), also told reporters outside the PGR that Monday’s hearing is an “important step” toward respecting human rights.

“Our expectation is that this is not theatre, but an agenda of the PGR that seeks the truth for later accountability. Justice should not have eyes, should not choose who to hold accountable and who not to hold accountable,” said the activist, who was also seeking a hearing at the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), considering that they were involved in the deaths during protests.

“We all remember the cases of people who walked around without identification and wielding firearms. These are people who we know are linked to SERNIC. These people also had a hand in the wave of human rights violations,” added Mulungo. He pointed out that more than 500 people “were murdered by the police” in the context of the contestation of the 2024 electoral process and that 7,000 people were “arbitrarily” detained, with “more than 3,000” still deprived of their liberty.

Mozambique has experienced a climate of strong social unrest since the October 2024 elections, with demonstrations and strikes called by Venâncio Mondlane, who rejected the election results that gave victory to Daniel Chapo, a presidential candidate supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the ruling party.

After months of demonstrations contesting the election results, the head of state and Venâncio Mondlane met for the first time on March 23 in Maputo and agreed to pacify the country, meeting again on May 21.

Source: Lusa