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Mozambique: Police say there was no intention to kill Manuel de Araújo
12:16 CAT | 07 Feb 2020
FILE: Manuel de Araújo, Quelimane's mayor, was not in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. [ File photo: DW]
The PRM spokesman in Zambezia province said the police did not fire real bullets at the Quelimane mayor’s vehicle during a march on Monday. Meanwhile, Renamo insists that the episode was an assassination attempt.
There was no intention to kill Quelimane’s mayor, Manuel de Araújo, as claimed by members of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the country’s largest opposition party, spokesman for the provincial command of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) in Zambézia Sidner Lonzo told DW this Thursday (06-02).
Sidner Lonzo also denies that the police fired real bullets during a Day of Mozambican Heroes celebration led by the opposition mayor on Monday.
“The police at no time fired real bullets. Firing live rounds in Mozambique’s current and democratic context would be a gross failure that neither we nor any member of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique would commit, mainly because we have the necessary means to deal with any riot,” he said.
“Firearms were not used in any way or at any time to disperse the crowd, let alone to [attempt to] kill someone.”
The episode involving Manuel de Araújo and Renamo supporters took place on Avenida Julius Nyerere in Quelimane’s Coalane neighbourhood after the speeches at Praça dos Heróis ceremonies on February 3rd.
Witnesses say the police fired tear gas, and live rounds which reportedly hit the tires of the mayor’s official vehicle. The mayor was not in the vehicle at the time.
“It was a threat”
In an interview with DW after the incident, the mayor said he had no doubt that it constituted a threat. The Renamo delegate in Quelimane, Latifo Charifo, also maintained that the intention was to murder Manuel de Araújo.
“When real bullets are fired, and the tires of our head of list or our president are punctured, what could the real intention be? It is not enough for people to write “effective and definitive peace” on paper. First, it is necessary to reconcile our minds. They fired two bullets and punctured the tires of the Quelimane mayor during a march”, Charifo insisted.
“In any case, the municipality authorised the march. We were accompanying the mayor of the municipality. We cannot be treated as stepchildren; we are children of this country and we also pay taxes. We fulfil our obligations,” he added.
Repression
It is not the first time that the police have suppressed marches by Renamo supporters in Quelimane.
Before the elections and during the electoral campaign, the police and Renamo supporters even had good relations, and marches were escorted without incident, but now that the electoral process is over, it seems to be “open season”.
“We have worked with the police in the past, but lately I don’t know what is happening and what they want. The police have always accompanied us. Where does this order come from? I can’t understand,” Charifo says.
Renamo says an unspecified number of supporters were injured in the panic caused by the shots, while others were badly affected by the tear gas.
Source: Deutsche Welle
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