Podemos party lawyer Elvino Díaz and party president Paulo Guambe were killed ahead of a protest against the disputed vote.
Gunmen in Mozambique have killed a lawyer for a main opposition politician and another opposition official ahead of protests over disputed election results, the party said.
The party said on Saturday that gunmen chased the car of Podemos lawyer Elvino Díaz and party leader Paulo Guambe and shot them dead in the capital Maputo late Friday night.
Videos on social media showed a BMW SUV in the middle of the road with numerous bullet holes in its body. Some videos showed what appeared to be the bodies of two men in the front seat, one with blood on his chest. The other body had collapsed.
The killings come amid already heightened tensions in the southern African country as it awaits the results of an October 9 election, which is dominated by voting fraud and a crackdown on opposition to the Liberation Front’s 49-year rule. suspicions are growing even more. Mozambique (Frelimo) party.
Podemos rejected preliminary results showing Frelimo’s victory and called for a nationwide strike on Monday. Venancio Mondlane ran for president as an independent, but was supported by Podemos.
Podemos said the killings were “further clear evidence of the lack of justice that we all suffer.”
“They were brutally assassinated (in) cold-blooded murder,” Adriano Nubunga, director of the Mozambican Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), told Reuters by phone.
“There is evidence that approximately 10 to 15 shots were fired, resulting in instant death.”
Human Rights Watch also issued a statement acknowledging the attack.
Frelimo is leading in all 11 states, according to the latest election tallies, and its candidate Daniel Chapo is widely expected to win the election. Chapo is expected to be announced as the successor to President Filipe Nyusi, who served the longest term in office.
Podemos and other opposition parties have accused Frelimo of electoral fraud. Western observers have also cast doubt on the polls, citing reports of vote buying, intimidation and inflated voter lists in Frelimo strongholds.
Mozambique has struggled with these problems since it first introduced democracy in 1994 after Frelimo had been in power for 20 years. The final results of the election are expected to be announced on October 24, but there are concerns that Monday’s protests could turn violent.
Human rights groups say Mozambique’s security forces have fired on political demonstrators in the past, including after last year’s local elections.
Nbunga, the NGO’s director, wrote on social media that Diaz’s killing was a “political assassination.”
