Maputo, 22 Oct (AIM) – The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has condemned the murder of prominent opposition lawyer Elvino Dias, on Friday night in central Maputo.
Dias was lawyer for independent presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, and for the main party that supported his presidential bid, Podemos. He was known to be working on the appeals against electoral fraud that Podemos intended to submit to the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law.
“The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and urges the authorities to swiftly investigate the murders and bring the perpetrators to justice”, said in a statement Guterres’s deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq.
Guterres called on “all Mozambicans, including political leaders and their supporters, to remain calm, exercise restraint and reject all forms of violence before the official announcement of the results of the general elections.”
The crime was also condemned by the diplomatic representation from Portugal, USA, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In a joint statement, they unanimously called for justice against those who committed the crime so that they may be held accountable.
Mozambique’s former President, Armando Guebuza, also condemned the murders of Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, declaring that “we cannot let the forces of evil continue to rule our country, compromising our national security.”
“We call on the competent authorities to seek out and hold accountable the true perpetrators of this macabre crime, avoiding opportunistic exploitation and chaos”, he said, through his Facebook account.
(AIM)
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