Mozambique: 12 Gorongosa district jail escapees re-captured – police

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Mozambique: 12 Gorongosa district jail escapees re-captured – police

7:45 CAT | 06 Feb 2025

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

The Mozambique police (PRM) announced on Tuesday the capture of 12 of the 200 or so inmates who escaped on Monday from Gorongosa district jail in central Mozambique.

The escape took place at around 9am (7am Lisbon time), after the police repelled a group of motorbike taxi drivers and illegal precious stone miners who were trying to gather to protest against the high cost of living in the Gorongosa district, Sofala province, central Mozambique.

“In the course of this activity” by the protesters, “they went to the local prison for a break-in, leading to the escape of 220 inmates (…). Of these, 12 were recaptured,” said Dércio Chacate, spokesman for the police in Sofala, at a press conference in Beira, the provincial capital.

“Of the 220 prisoners, 106 were in pre-trial detention and 114 were serving final sentences”, said the same source.

“It should be noted that (…) there are people with various types of criminal offences, including aggravated homicide, drug trafficking, poaching, robbery and theft, which effectively highlights the level of dangerousness of the individuals who have been illegally released,” he added.

According to the police, the group responsible for the prisoners’ escape was made up of around 500 people, who also tried to block access and vandalise the local mayor’s house.

Mozambique has been going through a post-election crisis since October, with protests and stoppages that have culminated in violent clashes between police and demonstrators, who reject the results of the October 9 elections and protest against other social problems, with at least 315 dead and around 750 people shot dead, according to civil society organisations monitoring the process.

This is not the first time that the Mozambican authorities have blamed protesters for the escape of prisoners.

On 25 December, 1,534 inmates escaped following riots at the special maximum security prison and the Maputo Provincial Prison, located more than 14 kilometres from the centre of the Mozambican capital, Maputo.

At the time, the then general commander of the police (PRM), Bernardino Rafael, considered that it was “a deliberate action” and the responsibility of demonstrators who, since October, have been on the streets protesting against the results of the general elections.

“By making noise, in their demonstrations, demanding that they could remove the prisoners who are serving their sentences there,” described Bernardino Rafael, adding that this action caused unrest inside the prison, which led to the collapse of a wall, favouring the escape, despite the “immediate confrontation” with the prison guards.

On the same day, according to the police, similar riots took place at Manhiça Prison, in the north of Maputo province, where protesters freed prisoners, and at Mabalane Prison, which recorded an escape attempt.

Source: Lusa