Immigration officers at Maputo International Airport confiscated the diplomatic passport of opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane upon his return to Mozambique on Thursday, his lawyer has announced.
According to Mondlane’s legal adviser Dinis Tivane, the immigration services claimed that the computerised system no longer recognized Mondlane’s passport because he had lost his status as a member of parliament.
Tivane argued that despite no longer being an MP, Mondlane automatically qualified to be a member of the Council of State – a body that advises the country’s president – by virtue of his being the runner-up in the October 9 presidential election.
Writing on Facebook, the lawyer argued that with this status Mondlane is entitled to a diplomatic passport.
“Clearly they want to intimidate him,” Tivane wrote, suggesting that the authorities were attempting to hold Mondlane in Mozambique after his two-month stay abroad.
He criticised the incident as a “low spectacle” that could have been avoided and vowed to pressure the immigration services to uncover who issued the order to confiscate the passport.
Mondlane’s return to Mozambique has been marked by tension and heavy security.
He had been in hiding following the disputed October presidential election, which led to deadly protests.
Mondlane landed at Maputo’s main airport on Thursday morning, where he was greeted by thousands of supporters amid a heavy police presence.
In his first comments upon returning, Mondlane expressed his readiness to negotiate to resolve the tension over the disputed election, which he claims was stolen from him.
He has been organizing protests through Facebook broadcasts and announced his return over the weekend, declaring that authorities “don’t need to chase me anymore.”
The final official results from the constitutional court two weeks ago gave Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo party 65 percent of the vote, while Mondlane received 24 percent.
JN/APA