Police arrested for prison deaths

Most of the dead in the prison in the town of Montepuez were supporters of the opposition RENAMO party rounded up by police after riots last month in which over 40 people had died. Radio Mozambique said the policemen had been taken to the coastal city of Pemba, the capital of northeastern Cabo Delgado province, where the clashes occurred. The report did not say what charges the group faced. A preliminary report by government doctors concluded that the inmates probably died of asphyxiation after being squeezed into a single prison cell. Radio Mozambique reported last Saturday that two senior police officials in Cabo Delgado had been suspended and a government commission would investigate the incident which took placed on 21 November. RENAMO leader Afonso Dhlakama has blamed President Joaquim Chissano’s ruling FRELIMO party for orchestrating the deaths, but Frelimo has denied the allegation. Dhlakama’s party has refused to recognise Chissano’s government following last December’s elections which they accuse Frelimo of rigging.