Top Mozambican Lawyer Dies In Hail Of Bullets
The SADC Lawyers Association (SADCLA) has condemned the murder of Mozambican lawyer Elvino Bernardo António Dias in the early hours of Saturday.
Dias, who represented opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane and provided legal services to the PODEMOS political party, was killed alongside Paulo Guambe, a representative of PODEMOS. A woman in the same car was injured.
It is alleged that the attackers fired about 25 bullets at the victims, indicating a clear intent to kill, according to SADCLA. Said SADCLA:
Killing a lawyer is tantamount to killing the democracy and rule of law. As the legal profession we cannot allow this to happen; lawyers must be free to continue to defend, with all professionalism, human rights and rule of law.
SADCLA strongly condemns this macabre act. SADCLA urges the competent authorities of the Republic of Mozambique to investigate with due speed and professionalism this callous and meticulously prepared crime.
SADCLA hopes that the moral and material perpetrators of this crime will be exemplarily punished and that crimes of this nature do not occur again in our region…
Assuming, from the circumstances in which the murder took place, that it may have resulted from political differences, SADCLA cannot accept that extrajudicial killing is the right solution.
Therefore, together with the Mozambican Bar Association, SADCLA will do everything in its power and leave no stone unturned to fight for justice to be done.
More: Pindula News
