A march in support of musician Azagaia, who died on March 9 at his home, was repressed by police in the Mozambican capital Maputo on Saturday.
The human rights organization Amnesty International reacted to the actions of the authorities, accusing the police of carrying out arbitrary arrests, using tear gas and violently attacking peaceful demonstrators, according to a statement signed by the responsible for West and South Africa, Emerlynn Gill .
Protesters stressed that the marches had been authorized. “The same ones who authorize us” to march, gave “superior orders” to the police to attack the participants, declared Quitéria guirrenganeone of the organizers, cited by the Portuguese service of the German broadcaster DW (Deutsche Welle).
Ironically, I remembered on Instagram writer José Eduardo Agualusa, one of Azagaia’s songs spoke precisely of the police repression of peaceful demonstrators. javelin, underlines the Amnesty Internationally, he inspired many with his songs that spoke about injustices, including the abusive treatment of authorities, about poverty and social inequality, and called for people to be more demanding in relation to authorities.
The president of the Human Rights Network Association, Sérgio Matsinhe, told DW that “Azagaia’s thoughts are being targeted by persecution”, and “people who try to implement Azagaia’s ideas are silenced”.
Emerlynn Gill draws the same conclusion: “there is no doubt that the police had the objective of suppressing the demonstrations with the intention of diminishing the legacy of Azagaia in Mozambique”.
The protesters, especially young people, sang themes such as people in powerthe best-known song by Azagaia, and by other musicians as well, to lash out at the government party, Frelimo.