Africa-Press – Mozambique. Several avenues and streets in the vicinity of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) in the centre of Maputo are closed to traffic, with strong police reinforcement, hours before former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane is to be heard in a court case.
As Lusa found, surrounding roads and those that give access to Avenida Vladimir Lenine, the headquarters of the PGR, have been closed since the early hours of the morning, with dozens of heavily armed members of the police Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) in attendance.
“Today is the day,” commented an employee of a private security company at the door of an establishment, with Friday traffic in the centre of the capital disrupted and surprised passers-by and motorists looking for alternative routes.
Politician Venâncio Mondlane has publicly revealed in recent days that he was notified by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Maputo to appear at the PGR today at 9:00 a.m. local time, with a “warning of arrest” if he does not appear.
In the last few hours, videos have surfaced on social media calling for support for the politician as he travels to the PGR, but up until an hour before his expected arrival, there were no incidents or security problems in the area.
Venâncio Mondlane, who led the challenge to the results of the Mozambican general elections of October 9, was also named a defendant in the province of Niassa, following the post-election demonstrations, he announced on June 18.
In a Facebook message complaining of “persecution”, Venâncio Mondlane published a copy of the form of indictment that he received in Maputo from the District Attorney’s Office of Cuamba, in the north.
The notification is justified by the “strong suspicion that he is the author” of crimes of incitement to collective disobedience, slanderous denunciation and offence against the honour of the President of the Republic.
Venâncio Mondlane also criticises the archiving by the District Attorney’s Office of Zavala, in the southern province of Inhambane, of a complaint he filed complaining of an alleged “attack” being prepared by a police officer who had infiltrated his personal security detail.
“The police officer caught red-handed was helped to escape from the Zavala district headquarters of the PRM [Police of the Republic of Mozambique]. Today, while I was having lunch, I received a notification at my home that the case had been closed,” he complained, adding: “The case has been closed for the crime of which I was the victim (attack). In the crimes of which I am suspected, I am immediately named a defendant.”
Lusa reported on June 10 that the Maputo City Judicial Court (TJCM) gave Venâncio Mondlane 20 days to present his defence in the case brought by the Mozambican state. The announcement published that day states that the case, without giving details of its content, is being heard in the ninth section of that court and that Venâncio Mondlane – who he describes as being in an “uncertain place”, contrary to what the politician says – can, if he so wishes, present his defence “in the declaratory action of conviction, in the form of ordinary common proceedings”, brought by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP).
Lusa reported in November that the Public Prosecutor’s Office was demanding compensation of €445,000 for damage caused by the demonstrations of the previous weeks – which worsened significantly in the following months – in the city of Maputo alone, in a civil action against Venâncio Mondlane and Podemos, the party that supported his candidacy.
On March 11, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) imposed an identity and residence order on Mondlane, in a case in which the Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses him of inciting violence in the post-election demonstrations.
After several months of social unrest and demonstrations contesting the election results – the victory of Daniel Chapo and the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) – which led to looting, destruction of public and private property and around 400 deaths, the elected head of state and Venâncio Mondlane met for the first time on March 23 in Maputo and agreed to pacify the country, repeating the meeting on May 20.
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