– Shots fired to disperse people protesting
By MOZTIMES
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – In Matola on Monday, the police clashed with members of the public moments before the funeral of a 15 year old adolescent, Alexandre Vilanculos, who was shot dead by a supposed agent of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), on Josina Machel Avenue. The burial was preceded by shots by the police of the Machava 5th Precinct against the public.
The adolescent was hit by two shots from a pistol, one in the chest, and the other in his forehead, according to eye-witnesses to the murder of Xandinho, as the youth was known.
The population of Machava accuses the Sernic agent, known as Soberano, of the crime. Some hours earlier he was seen in a black Toyota driving along Josina Machel Avenue, threatening young people and saying he didn’t want to see anybody demonstrating.
Hours later, when the supposed Sernic agent, now in civilian clothes, saw a group of youths mobilising to begin demonstrations at a bus stop, he got out of the car, fired two shots in the air, and then another two against Alexandre Vilanculos, who fell to the ground immediately.
“But shortly before he fled, he said he didn’t want to kill anybody, but only to frighten. Moments later a police vehicle appeared and collected Xandinho’s body”, one witness told MOZ TIMES.
On Monday morning, 18 November, hundreds of Machava residents gathered at the scene of the crime, and waited for the appearance of the funeral cortege that was to carry the body from the chapel at Maputo Central Hospital to Bedene cemetery, a distance of about 1.5 kilometres.
When the arrival of the coffin was inexplicably delayed, some of the crowd went to the police Fifth Precinct. There they found a large police continent armed with AK-47 assault rifles, tear gas grenades and two armoured cars.
Television reporters wanted to interview police officers – but the police opened fire to disperse the crowd, and at least one woman was hit.
At around 14.00 Xandinho was laid to rest. About 500 people attended the funeral, carrying placards and flags of Podemos, the party that supported presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, and singing songs that threatened vengeance on the supposed Sernic agent.
The family of Alexandre Vilanculos went to the Fifth Police Precinct in Machava to demand that the police take responsibility for Xandinho’s death, but they were only willing to handle the logistics for the funeral ceremonies.
According to Xandinho’s uncle, Joao Goncalves, “the commander of the Machava Fifth Precinct delegated his subordinate to go with us to a shop and buy 50 kilos of rice, 50 kilos of maize flour, ten litres of cooking oil, ten kilos of fish, garlic and soup packets”.
The police bought a coffin for 5,000 meticais (about 80 US dollars), but the family was not comfortable with the quality of the coffin. So they exchanged it for another at a different funeral agency, paying an extra 2,000 meticais.
The family of Alexandre Vilanculos said it will hire a lawyer to prosecute the assassin, because the adolescent’s dream was brutally interrupted. The police have promised no follow-up to the case and refused even to talk about it to reporters. (MOZTIMES)
