Mozambique’s main opposition figure Venancio Mondlane said on Tuesday he was questioned for 10 hours by prosecutors without being informed of what accusation lay behind the interrogation.Speaking to the media in the capital Maputo, Mondlane, who claimed victory in October’s contested election, added that he had been placed under judicial supervision. “Unfortunately, we spent all those hours without me being able to say what I was accused of,” said the former TV commentator.”I can’t move without notifying the prosecutor’s office, I can’t leave my house for more than five days,” he said. The October election, which several international observer missions said was tainted by irregularities, was followed by more than two months of demonstrations and blockades during which more than 300 people died. “Naturally, (the prosecutors) asked a lot of questions. These are essentially questions concerning the demonstrations, incitement to violence, damage caused to the economy,” Mondlane said.Mondlane’s supporters had massed outside the building where he was being questioned but police dispersed them with tear gas, an AFP reporter saw.Last week, police violently dispersed a march by Mondlane supporters using live ammunition and wounded at least 14 people, according to local civil society group Plataforma Decide.Mondlane recently split with the opposition Podemos party, which had supported his presidential candidacy. He has formed a new party called the National Alliance for an Autonomous and Free Mozambique — nicknamed Anamalala, which means “it’s over”, one of the slogans of the protests in the local Macau language.Official results put Mondlane in second place in the election, and handed victory to President Daniel Chapo of the Frelimo party that has ruled Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975.Chapo won credited with 65 percent of ballots, compared with 24 percent for Mondlane.But the opposition leader claims he won 53 percent, and has rallied enough support to hand Frelimo its first real challenge in half a century.
