Mozambique opposition lawyer's murder draws global outrage

The lawyer for Mozambican opposition politician Venâncio Mondlane was gunned down early Saturday, drawing outrage from around the world and calls for a transparent investigation.

Gunmen in Maputo, the capital, stopped the car in which the attorney, Elvino Dias, and another person — identified by the U.S. and others as Podemos party representative Paulo Guambe — were traveling and riddled the vehicle with bullets, killing both, Carta de Moçambique reported. Police confirmed the incident in a press briefing, according to a recording from local channel STV.

A joint statement from the U.S., Canada, Norway, Switzerland and the U.K. condemned “any act of political violence.”

The European Union’s diplomatic service called for “an immediate, thorough and transparent” probe to bring those responsible to justice. “In a democracy, there is no place for politically motivated killings,” the EU said in a statement.

The Mozambique Bar Association condemned “the barbaric and cowardly murder” of Dias.

The killing ratchets up already high tensions in the gas-rich southeast African nation ahead of a national strike that Mondlane called for to take place Monday to protest what he labels fraud in the Oct. 9 election.

Dozens of supporters who’d gathered at the site of the shootings on Saturday evening sang the national anthem and lit candles among flowers laid on the sidewalk. They repeatedly sang the last line: “No tyrant will enslave us.”

At the scene, Mondlane called on supporters to peacefully take to the streets on Monday, marching from the site at 10 a.m. local time. He warned police not to block the march, saying that would aggravate the situation further.

The former lawmaker stood as an independent candidate backed by the small Podemos party, and rode a wave of youth support as he sought to end the Mozambique Liberation Front’s 49-year rule.

Various election observers have raised questions about the credibility of the vote count, with those from the EU citing evidence of potential ballot-box stuffing. The electoral authorities said aggrieved parties can seek redress from the courts, where they should present evidence.

The nation ranks as only “partly free,” according to Freedom House, a U.S. advocacy group. Anastácio Matavel, an independent election observer, was killed just before the 2019 vote and several members of an elite police unit were convicted of his murder the following year, according to the Washington-based group.

Police on Friday warned citizens from participating in illegal demonstrations, and there’s a heavy law enforcement and military presence in Maputo.

In its statement, the EU said that the Dias killing followed “worrying reports” about violent dispersion of supporters in the aftermath of Mozambique’s election.

“We urge all citizens, political leaders, state institutions, and stakeholders to resolve electoral disputes peacefully and lawfully, rejecting violence and inflammatory rhetoric,” the U.S. and allies said in their statement on X.