Mozambican police today dispersed a demonstration in the centre of Maputo called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane to repudiate the murder of two supporters, charging at dozens of people who had gathered there.
At around 10am local time (9am in Lisbon), police stepped up the firing of tear gas grenades and shots into the air as they charged to disperse the protesters, who responded by throwing stones and setting off fireworks.
A journalist was injured during the police charge.
Clashes between police and protesters began at around 7:30am, with police dispersing groups that had begun to gather to take part in the peaceful marches.
Police are also using dogs and a helicopter is flying low over the area where the march started, the scene of Friday's double homicide.
Protesters chanted slogans such as "Save Mozambique" and "This country is ours".
During a morning tour of the Mozambican capital by Lusa, it was possible to see a city with unusually low traffic for the first day of the work week, with few public transport systems operating, although there was some pedestrian movement and cafes were open.
"This will be the first stage, peacefully, in which we will paralyze all public and private activity. We will take to the streets with our posters, we will demonstrate our repudiation", announced Venâncio Mondlane, on Saturday, in Maputo, at the place where two supporters were murdered.
He assured that the strike, in the public and private sectors, which he had called for today, in protest against the preliminary results of the elections of October 9, would continue, now taking to the streets, and blamed the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) for the double homicide.
The Mozambican police confirmed to Lusa on Saturday that the vehicle in which Elvino Dias, Venâncio Mondlane's lawyer, and Paulo Guambe, leader of Podemos, the party that supports Mondlane, were travelling, who were shot dead, was "ambushed".
The crime took place on Joaquim Chissano Avenue, in the centre of the capital, and according to the police, a woman who was travelling in the back seat of the vehicle was also shot and taken to hospital.
The Mozambican police warned, before the double homicide that led to the march being called, in addition to the strike, that they would prevent any act of violence and public disorder that occurs today.
The general elections on 9 October included the seventh presidential election - in which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who has reached the limit of two terms, has not run - at the same time as legislative elections and elections for provincial assemblies and governors.
The CNE has 15 days to announce the official results, a date that falls on October 24, and then it is up to the Constitutional Council to proclaim the results, after also concluding the analysis of any appeals, but without a defined deadline for this purpose.
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